When our Saviour sent forth his apostles to preach the Gospel, he informed them of the hardships, dangers, and discouragements they would have to encounter, in the faithful discharge of their ministry; especially after his resurrection, when they would be deprived of his personal presence; for we do not read of any great persecutions they endured while he was with them. These sufferings he foretold, that they might not be surprised at their approach; and that, by the accomplishment of this prediction, their faith might be confirmed. “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of Wolves.” Here we have a prediction of their perilous condition; they were to be as Sheep in the midst of Wolves. And what situation more dangerous! What can sheep, that are feeble creatures, and destitute of natural armour to defend themselves, expect, in the midst of ravenous wolves, but to be rent and torn to pieces? So those, amongst whom the apostles were to be sent, would have as great an inclination, arising from their malicious dispositions, to destroy them, as wolves have from their nature to devour sheep. Wicked men are like wolves, whose nature it is to destroy and devour sheep; they are of a diabolical disposition towards the ministers of the Gospel.
Our Saviour also gave his apostles advice, how to conduct themselves in such very unpleasant and dangerous circumstances. “Be ye therefore wise as serpents,” not cunning as foxes, whose aim is to deceive others; but as serpents, whose policy is only to defend themselves, when they are in danger. A serpent’s wisdom appears in a care to guard and secure its head, that it may not be hurt; in stopping its ears against the voice of the charmer, which it does, says a certain naturalist, by laying one ear close to the ground, and stopping the other with its tail; and in sheltering itself in the clefts of a rock, when in danger. So should Christ’s ministers, in a time of peril, use all lawful means for their own safety and preservation; they should be wary and circumspect to keep themselves from harm, either of body or soul. “And harmless as doves.” Ministers should be meek, do no person any harm, bear no ill-will, be without gall, as is said of the dove; though their enemies should be fierce and savage, like wolves, yet they must not study how to revenge the injuries done them. It should be their continual care to be inoffensive, in word and deed: wisdom and innocence should dwell together. Ministers must not be altogether doves, lest they fall into danger; nor altogether serpents, lest they injure others; but they must be both serpents and doves, the one for wisdom, the other for innocence.
“That thou mayst injure no man, dove-like be,
And serpent-like, that none may injure thee!“
Our Saviour likewise cautions his followers against false teachers. “Beware of false prophets.” The term prophet in the Scripture, signifies one who foretells things to come; this is the most proper signification of the word. It also means one who expounds the predictions of the Old Testament. And sometimes we are to understand by it, one employed in the ministry of the Gospel; in this sense a prophet and a teacher are reciprocal terms. So that by prophet here our Saviour means false teachers, who, pretending authority from God, exercised themselves in the ministry, and published false doctrine, or at least represented truth in a corrupt manner, with a fraudulent intention, from base motives, and for vile ends; by whose doctrine persons were in no small danger of being seduced from their simplicity, and drawn away from the truth, sincerity, and power of godliness; into a dead and lifeless formality, and an empty show of religion and piety. Now against such men, Christ, in the days of his public ministry, warned his hearers, to prevent their deception, apprising them that they would “come in sheep’s clothing.” They disguised their dangerous principles and base intentions, under a show of external religion, and fair professions of love, that, thereby they might deceive others. “But inwardly they are ravening Wolves.” They were as dangerous to the souls of men, as ravenous Wolves are to Sheep, which watch for an opportunity to seize their prey, silently approach the sheep-fold to see whether the dogs be asleep, or the shepherd be absent: so false teachers with wretched hypocrisy and sophistry, counterfeit sincerity, humility, and sanctity; and were it not for this semblance of piety, their efforts to injure the church of God would be ineffectual. He compares these false teachers to Wolves, especially on account of their cruelty. These animals are not content to satisfy their hunger, but will destroy multitudes merely to gratify their voracious nature. So false teachers strive to injure the whole church of God, and thus destroy souls.
Our Saviour exhorted his auditory to the exercise of Christian prudence, in the dispensing of spiritual things. “Give not that which is holy unto the Dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before Swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” The deep things of God, relating to doctrines, are not to be divulged to those who are wallowing in sin; neither are the great things he has done in his people to be declared to profane, furious persecutors: but both classes of wicked men may be reproved on proper occasions. By Dogs, our Saviour means froward, perverse, malicious, revengeful, boisterous, incorrigible, and irreclaimable sinners, who scorn holy institutions, mock at every thing sacred, scoff at religion, deride the word of God, and all serious reproofs and admonitions, whether given by parents, masters, ministers, governors, and others; who are ready to persecute those who preach the Gospel, and endeavor to promote their salvation. By Swine, he means such sinners as are profane and sensual, and like Swine wallow in the mud of sin and wickedness; to whom it is as pleasant to live in their beastly lusts, as it is for Swine to wallow in the mire; and to disregard, abuse, and trample on holy things.
St. Peter, in showing what all men are in the sight of God, before they receive his grace, and what those are who turn apostates from the truth, alludes to two offensive actions of Dogs and Swine. “It has befallen to them according to the true proverb, the Dog is turned to his vomit, and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” Blackwall says, this proverb, with great propriety and strength, marks out the sottishness and odious manners of persons enslaved to sensual appetites and carnal lusts; and the extreme difficulty of reforming vicious and inveterate habits. As a Dog, observe Bishop Patrick, when he has vomited up his meat which made him sick, is no sooner well but he returns to it, and eats it up again, forgetting how ill it agreed with him; so an imprudent person commits the same error over again, for which he formerly smarted. The evil nature remaining, and at last gaining the ascendency, in a man, who had through grace reformed his life, renders him like the loathsome and detestable Sow, as Dr. Doddridge remarks; for the Sow that was washed from the filthiness she had before contracted, having still the same unclean nature prevailing, is returned to wallow in the mire, and so makes herself as filthy as she had ever been before. And, adds Dr. Whitby, these two proverbs are expressive of the folly of those men who return to those vices they had formerly renounced.
Section II.—Man.
Body: — Its Creator — Formation — Vitality — Blood — Heart — Arteries and Veins — Digestion — Respiration — Glands — Absorbents — Nervous System — Organs of Sense — Bones — Sinovia — Muscles — Tendons — Cellular Membrane — Skin. Soul: — Its Immateriality — Freedom — Immortality — Moral Image — Adam’s Dominion over the Creatures — Woman — Paradise.