Commentary upon the Prophecy of Isaiah

Now it follows by and by after, that Christ is armed with the breath of the lips to slay the wicked withal; unless some will say that Isaiah added this second member for amplifications sake. And in very deed it is much more to slay, then to smite only. Seeing then it is the property of the Gospel to humble all men generally, it is a thing accidental in the reprobate when he strikes them with a deadly wound. Thus the Prophet should conjoin the special to the general, thereby showing that the wicked fall upon the sword of Christ unto eternal destruction, because they are not consecrated to be acceptable offerings. How ever it be, undoubtedly this last member ought to be wholly restrained and referred to the wicked, and therefore it was added, in as much as this efficacy appeareth not at the first in the preaching of the Gospel:¹ and contrariwise many despise and •est at it, holding whatsoever Jesus Christ hath said in his word to be no better then a fable. But howsoever they feel not his power by and by, yet can they not escape it, but at the last they shall be smitten to death therewith. And yet it seems the Prophets meaning should not be sufficiently explained, because he not only speaks here of the inward feeling wherewithal the wicked are touched whether they will or no, but also even of that impiety it self which shall be scattered and abolished by the virtue and efficacy of this sceptre, as the Apostle Saint Paul expoundeth it in the 2. Thess. 2.3. who questionless had respect unto this place when he spake of the ruin of Antichrist, and in that place he opens unto us the meaning of the Prophet. He shows then that Jesus Christ shall never be without enemies, which shall endeavour to overthrow his kingdom, to abolish or stop the free passage of his Gospel (otherwise the Prophet had said this without cause) but Jesus Christ shall destroy them by the sound of his word, as well every one of them in particular, as all of them in general, with their head and Captain also. Thus S. Paul sets before us a double use of this doctrine in an other §1place, requiring this of a Pastor, that he §2be not only fit to teach, but also that he convince the gainsayers, Tit. 1.9