Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the
cluster,
&c.] Now, lest the truly godly and gracious among these
people should be distressed at such denunciations of wrath and
destruction, it is suggested that these few, this remnant
according to the election of grace, should be saved from the
general ruin; as when men are about to cut down a vine, or pluck
it up, or prune the unfruitful branches of it, a single cluster
of grapes is observed upon it, in which new wine is supposed to
be: and one saith, destroy it not, for a blessing is in
it;
one that stands by, perhaps the owner of the vine, seeing it,
says to his servant, spare the vine, do not cut it down; or do
not cut off the branch on which the cluster is, for there is life
and sap in it, and it may grow, and bring forth much fruit:
so will I do for my servants' sake, that I may not destroy
them all;
as formerly he spared Noah at the deluge; of whom the Targum
paraphrases the former clause; and Lot at the burning of Sodom;
and Joshua and Caleb, when all the rest that came out of Egypt
perished in the wilderness; so there would be, and were, a few
whom God called by his grace, among the Jews, brought to the
knowledge of Christ, and into a Gospel church state in Jerusalem;
and these he preserved from the destruction of it, of which they
had previous warning, and were directed to Pella, where they were
safe: and so, wherever the truth of grace is, such shall not be
destroyed; and which is a blessing, and a blessed work in the
heart of man, and is a new thing there; and, like new wine,
delightful to God and man; and like wine in the cluster, all
grace, and all spiritual blessings are with it; and which must be
tried by afflictions, to be brought into exercise, as the cluster
is pressed; and which is found but in a few, like wine in a
single cluster, concerning whom the Father says, destroy them
not, being loved and chosen by him; and so says the Son, being
redeemed by his blood; and the same says the Spirit, being
regenerated and sanctified by his grace; and such being the
servants of the Lord, and partakers of his grace, he will not
suffer any of them to be destroyed; but encompasses them with his
favour; holds them with his right hand; suffers no enemy to do
them wrong, and guards them with his power.