And if ye call on the Father
Of Christ, and of all the saints; or "seeing" ye do. This is a
fresh argument, engaging to holiness of life and conversation.
Invocation of God includes the whole worship of him, the
performance of every outward duty, and the exercise of every
inward grace, particularly it designs prayer; and whoever are
concerned in one, or the other, God will be sanctified by all
them that draw nigh unto him: or the phrase may here intend an
asserting God to be their Father, under the influence of the
spirit of adoption; and all such that do claim so near a relation
to God ought to honour and obey him, and to be followers of him:
whoever call God their Father, and themselves his children, ought
to be careful that they do not blaspheme, or cause to be
blasphemed, that worthy name by which they are called:
who without respect of persons judgeth according to every
man's
work.
This is another reason why men should be holy, taken from the
general judgment; for this God that is a Father, is also a judge.
There is a judgment after death, which is sure and certain, and
reaches to all persons and things; and though the Father judges
no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son, yet he will
judge everyone by that man Christ, whom he has ordained to be the
Judge of quick and dead: before his judgment seat all must stand,
where they will be impartially, and without respect of persons,
tried; no account will be had of what nation and place they are,
whether Jews or Gentiles, or of this, or the other country,
unless to aggravate or lessen their condemnation; for it will be
more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, for Sodom and Gomorrah, than
for such who have been favoured with a Gospel revelation, and
believe it not; nor from what parents they have descended, for
the soul that sins, that shall die; nor of what age and sex they
are, small and great shall stand before him; nor of what state
and condition, rich or poor, high or low, bond or free; or of
what religious sect and denomination, or whether they have
conformed to some external things or not; no regard will be had
to any outward appearance or profession. The Judge will not judge
according to the sight of the eyes, and outward view of things;
for he looks on the heart, and knows the secret springs of all
actions; and according thereunto will he judge and pass the
sentence; and therefore what manner of persons ought men to be,
in all holy conversation and godliness? Hence it follows,
pass the time of your sojourning here in fear;
the people of God in this world are "sojourners", as all their
fathers were; they are not natives of the place in, which they
are; though they are in the world, they are not of it; they were
natives of it by their first birth, but by their second they are
born again from above, and so, belong to another place; they are
of another country, even an heavenly one; are citizens of another
city, a city which, has foundations, whose builder and maker is
God, their citizenship is in heaven; and there is their Father's
house, which is not made with hands, and is eternal; and there
lies their estate, their inheritance; and though they dwell here
below, neither their settlement nor their satisfaction are here;
they reckon themselves not at home while they are on earth, and
are strangers in it, to the men of the world, and they to them;
with whom they have not, or at least ought not to have, any
fellowship. It is indeed but for a "time", that they are
sojourners, not an eternity; which time is fixed, and is very
short, and will be quickly gone; it is but a little while, and
Christ wilt come and take them home to his Father's house, where
they shall be for ever with him; for it is only here on earth
that they are pilgrims and strangers: and while they are so they
should spend their time "in fear"; not of men nor of devils, nor
of death and judgment, hell and eternal damnation; for such a
fear is not consistent with the love of God shed abroad in the
heart, and is the effect of the law, and not encouraged by the
Gospel; is in natural men, yea, in devils themselves; but in the
fear of God, and which springs from the grace of God, and is
increased by it; is consistent with the strongest acts of faith,
and with the greatest expressions of spiritual joy; is opposite
to pride and self-confidence, and includes the whole worship of
God, external and internal, and a religious conversation, in
humility and lowliness of mind.