Jude 1:22-23 And of some have compassion, making a difference:… 1. Reproofs must be managed with compassion and holy grief. This is like God (Lamentations 3:33). There are tears in His eyes when He hath a rod in His hand. It is like Christ (Luke 19:41). There are three grounds of this holy grief: — (1) The dishonour done to God (Psalm 119:136). Love will be affected with the wrong of the party loved. (2) The harm and destruction men bring upon themselves, that they have no care of their own souls (Jeremiah 13:17). (3) The proneness that is in our nature to the same sin (Galatians 6:1). Bernards good man would weep — he to-day and I to-morrow: there is no sin in their lives but was in your nature. Well, then, it checketh them that speak of others' sins by way of censure, but with delight or petulancy of spirit; many reproofs are lost because there is more of passion than compassion in them. It is spiritual cruelty when you can turn a finger in your brother's wound without grief. 2. In reproving some must be handled gently: but who are those that must be handled gently? (1) With the most notorious it is good to begin mildly, that they may see our goodwill and desire of their salvation (2 Timothy 2:25). Hasty spirits cannot brook the least opposition, and therefore are all a-fire presently. How did God deal with us in our natural condition? with what mildness? and "spake comfortably" to us, to allure us out of the devil's snare (Hosea 2:14). (2) The persons whom we should treat with much compassion are these: — (a) The ignorant and seduced. Many well-meaning men may err; be not too severe with them, lest prejudice make them obstinate. (b) Those that slip of infirmity. Members must be "set in joint" tenderly (Galatians 6:1). (c) The afflicted in conscience. We must not speak "to the grief of those whom God hath wounded" (2 Corinthians 2:7). (d) If they err in smaller matters. We must not deal with motes as with beams, and put the wicked and the scrupulous in the same rank, nor the gross heretic, and those that mistake in point of church order. While the judgment is sound in fundamentals, and the practice is reformed, we should use meekness till "God reveal the same thing" (Philippians 3:15, 16). (e) The tractable and those of whom we have any hopes. Dashing storms wash away the seed, whereas gentle showers refresh the earth: men left without hope grow desperate. 3. In all censures and punishments there must be choice used and discretion. Prudence is the queen of graces. Different tempers require different remedies (Isaiah 28:27). God Himself putteth a difference: some are brought in with violence, others gently. This showeth — (1) That ministers had need be wise, to know how to suit their doctrines, to distinguish between persons, actions, circumstances. (2) That ministers should give every one their portion. Terror to whom terror belongeth, and comfort to whom comfort belongeth. (3) It showeth what care we should take to "know the state of our flock" (Proverbs 27:23), that we may know how to apply ourselves to them (Colossians 4:8). It also obligeth private Christians to consider each other's temper, gifts, frame of heart, that we may the better suit ourselves to do and receive good (Hebrews 10:24, 25). (T. Manton.) Parallel Verses KJV: And of some have compassion, making a difference: |
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