as violaters of public law, but to shameful suffering, originating in impropriety of behaviour of whatever kind.a

It may seem strange that the Apostle should caution those to whom he wrote, and whom he had represented as "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; as begotten again to a living hope; as the heirs of an incorruptible, undefiled, unfading inheritance, reserved in heaven for them," to which they were "kept by the power of God through faith;” as having "tasted that the Lord is gracious;" as "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation;" it may seem strange that he should have thought it needful to caution such persons against exposing themselves to the penalties which the law denounces against theft and murder, or even to the minor punishments society inflicts on the pragmatical intermeddler.

It may be supposed that the Apostle meant not so much to warn those to whom he wrote against murder, theft, and impertinent intrusion in other men's matters, as against affording to their malignant enemies even the shadow of an occasion of punishing them for these or similar crimes and improprieties. These were disposed to speak evil of them, and to punish them as malefactors. "By well-doing they were to seek to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men;" and their conduct was to be so harmless, and blameless, and circumspect, that when charged before the tribunals of such crimes, their adversaries should find it impossible to substantiate their charge, and difficult even to give any thing like plausibility to it; so that the result might be, that, instead of their being visited with the shameful punishment of murderers and thieves, " they who spoke evil of them as of evil-doers, should be made ashamed on account of their false accusation, of their good conversation in Christ;" or if, as they often did, without evidence and against evidence, they

VOL. III.

a See note A.

F

should proceed to punish them, that it might be made manifest to all that it was not for crimes which might be alleged, but which had not, could not be proved against them, but simply for their being Christians, that they were punished.

This, however, is not by any means the only passage in which Christians are cautioned against very gross sins. Exhortations to Christians in the apostolic epistles, not only proceed on the principle, that there were false professors in the primitive churches, who might discredit their profession by unholy conduct, but on the principle, that in the truly converted man, that is, "in his flesh, dwelleth no good thing;" and that, but for the restraining influence of the Spirit and Providence of God, there is scarcely any violation of the Divine law, into which remaining depravity, stimulated into active operation by powerful temptation, may not hurry him. To use the words of an old Scottish expositor, "Except Christians employ Christ's spirit to apply that virtue which he hath purchased by his death, for the changing of their nature, and mortifying of the love of sin in their hearts, and study watchfulness in their carriage, they will readily break out in those abominations, for which even heathens would justly put them to suffer: for this direction of the Apostle's does import, that except Christians did watch and pray, and make use of Christ's death for mortification of sin within them, to which duties he had stirred them up before, they were in hazard to break out in the sins here mentioned, and so be put to suffer as murderers, thieves, evil-doers, and busy-bodies in other men's

These practices, referred to by the Apostle, were shameful in themselves, shameful by whomsoever committed; but they were obviously peculiarly shameful in Christians. It was disgraceful for a heathen to suffer for such causes, what then must it have been for a Christian? Sin is hateful in

1 Nisbett.

every man, additionally hateful in a professor of Christianity; nowhere so hateful as in the heart and life of a child of God. It is not wonderful then that the Apostle should say, "Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as a busy-body in other men's matters." By exposing himself to punishment for the violation of the laws, a Christian would draw down discredit, not only on his own character, but on the Christian cause, giving occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. He would destroy his own inward peace, and, by making shipwreck of character, render it scarcely possible that he should ever have it in his power to repair, in any good measure, the injury he had done to the worthy name.'

It ill becomes such persons to complain of their sufferings, but it well becomes them to be ashamed of them, and especially to be ashamed of their cause. Nothing is more deplorable than to find men bearing the name of Christ, after involving themselves in suffering by their imprudence and sin, exposing themselves to the penalties of the law, or drawing down odium on themselves and reproach on religion, by their conceited officiousness or impertinent intermeddling; instead of being ashamed of their conduct, actually taking credit for it; pleasing themselves with the thought that they are persecuted for righteousness sake, when they are only suffering for their faults; and imputing that to the malice of their enemies, which is but the natural result of their own folly and wickedness. It becomes such persons to blush and weep; to retire as much as may be from the public gaze, and "to walk softly all their years."

But however carefully and successfully the primitive Christians might avoid all such disgraceful sufferings, discreditable to themselves and injurious to their religion; sufferings they were not likely to escape, sufferings of another kind. Though they should violate no civil law which was not in direct opposition to the Divine law, though they

1 "Martyrem facit non pœna, sed causa."-AUGUSTINE.

should "live quiet and peaceable lives," minding their own business, and not intermeddling with what did not concern them; and though they should act so circumspectly that even their enemies, watching for their halting, could find nothing which they could plausibly represent as a violation of law, or an undue interference with the affairs of others, yet still they were likely, aye, they were sure, to meet with sufferings it might be very severe sufferings; sufferings in their external form of a very shameful and degrading character just because they were Christians; just because they made a consistent profession of the faith of Christ, ac knowledging him as their teacher and Lord, observing his institutions and obeying his laws. Though, as in the case of Daniel, no occasion might be found against them on other grounds, an occasion would be found against them "concerning the law of their God."1

Such were the sufferings inflicted on the Apostles and first teachers and professors of Christianity, of which we have a record in the Acts of the Apostles; sufferings, for the infliction of which, in some cases, no cause was even alleged but that they were Christians; and in others where, though other causes were alleged, this was indeed the true reason. The time was come of which our Lord had spoken, when his followers were to be "hated by all nations,"" both by the Jews and the Gentiles, "for his name sake," just because they were Christians. To be a Christian, was a sufficient reason with the Jews why a man should be cast out of the Synagogue; and with the Romans, why he should be treated as a criminal. At a somewhat later period we find an imperial edict, that of Trajan, which seems to have been intended rather to mitigate the severity of the treatment to which Christians, as Christians, had been exposed, requiring that, though Christians were not to be officially sought after, such as were accused and convicted of an adherence to Christianity were to be put to death;" their Christianity,

! Dan. vi. 5.

2 Matt. xxiv. 9.

3 Plinii Epp. ix. 97, 98.

apart from every thing else, being considered as a capital offence.

And if thus, as Christians, exposed to sufferings so serious in the shape of legal inflictions, it is quite plain that, in the ordinary intercourse of life, they must have been liable to an endless variety of annoyance, living in the midst of men who, whether Jews or Heathens, regarded their religion with sentiments of abhorrence and contempt. These sufferings were in many cases, in their own nature, of a degrading character. Christians were, as the Apostle expresses it, "shamefully entreated." The punishments inflicted were such as were commonly inflicted on the vilest criminals, on felons and slaves. Stripes and the cross, punishments which could be legally inflicted on no Roman citizen, fell to the lot of many of them, from the hands of the multitude; and from the great body of their fellow citizens they received "cruel mockings;" their names were cast out as evil, and they were treated by them "as the filth of the world and the offscouring of all things."

1

But of sufferings of this kind, however ignominious in their own character, however fitted to express the contempt of those who inflicted them, and excite the shame of those who endured them, they were not to be ashamed. They were not to count them really dishonourable. In truth, they were not. The most ignominious treatment, when it is unmerited, reflects dishonour not on him who innocently endures, but on him who unjustly inflicts it. To profess what we believe to be true, and to do what we believe to be right, to refuse to give either explicit or tacit approbation of what we account false and wrong, to acknowledge obligations to a Divine benefactor for favours of unappreciable value in the manner that Divine benefactor enjoins, can never be dishonourable. No contumely, poured on Christians, could in the slightest degree affect the truth or excellence of Christ's doctrine and law; or lay a foundation for a

1 Heb. xi. 36. 1 Cor. iv. 13.