Biblical Illustrator Peter. 1. Simeon or Simon: that he had at his circumcision.2. Cephas, a stone: given him by Christ at his calling, to signify that He meant to make him a stout defender of the faith. 3. Peter: the Greek equivalent of the Syriac Cephas.Learn — 1. Christ's kindness to Peter in giving him a name to assure him of some grace which He would bestow on him. Though we cannot do this, yet it behoves us to give our children such names as may put them in mind of some good thing; either to imitate some good man or woman whose name they bear, or else to follow some good that the name puts them in mind of. 2. In that he puts his name to his Epistle, he shows his godliness. A man bold for truth may be blamed, but cannot be shamed. This condemns the vile practice of the wicked, who hide themselves in the dark. We must do nothing but that we dare put our hands to it, and our names. (John Rogers.) (W. P. Faunce.) I. THE GREETER. 1. His name — Peter. The giving of that name leads us to recollect — (1) (2) (3) 2. His vocation — "an apostle." (1) (2) (3) II. THOSE GREETED. 1. Who? Sojourners of the dispersion. Homeless through persecution. 2. Where? Scattered from under the shadows of the mountains of Galilee down to the shores of the Black Sea. 3. What? "Elect." Divinely chosen to perfection of character. (1) (2) (3) III. THE GREETING — "Grace and peace." 1. The highest conception of Greek and of Hebrew blessedness. Greek — grace; Hebrew — peace. Both combined. (1) (2) 2. This multiplied indefinitely, not to say infinitely. They cannot have too much to exceed the apostle's desires for them. (U. R. Thomas.)
(James Stalker, D. D.)
2. The estate of the Church of God here on earth is under persecution. The world having power and wealth, is full of malice against the poor Church, so that were it not that God Almighty defends it, it could not endure. It is as a sheep among wolves, or a ship among the waves. Though God will exercise it to keep it front errors and corruptions, which it is subject to through much prosperity and peace; though it have need of some peace to gather itself, yet if it be long in peace it gathers mud as standing waters, rust as the ploughshare in the hedge, yea, settles itself on the lees, therefore God pours it out from vessel to vessel. The Church never shines so gloriously as either in or after persecution; then life, zeal, sincerity, heavenly-mindedness, and such like graces, appear in their true lustre. It follows —(1) That as we are not to conclude for a company, because they have so much peace, that therefore they are beloved of God; so must not we against any because they be few in number and outwardly despised.(2) That we are to prepare ourselves for persecution.(3) That it is lawful to fly in time of persecution. (John Rogers.)
2. That the Church of God is not tied to any one place, neither to Rome nor to Jerusalem. 3. That the godly are thin set. It is rare to find true godly men, they dwell here and there. 4. That the Church hath not always an external glory to commend it. 5. That there may be a great inward beauty under a despised condition. These dispersed ones are glorious creatures, sanctified in their spirits, and shall have an immortal inheritance. 6. That there may be excellent order in appearing confusion. One might think the husbandmen spoiled their corn when they scatter it abroad on the ground; and yet we know it is better so than when it is in the barn all on a heap. So is it with the godly. (N. Byfield.)
II. THEY ARE CHOSEN OF HEAVEN. 1. To the sanctification of the Spirit. 2. To obedience. 3. To a consecration to Christ. III. THEY ARE PRAYED FOR BY THE BRETHREN. 1. For the favour of God. 2. For peace of soul. (Homilist.)
(John Rogers.)
I. WHAT DOES ELECT MEAN? The word is taken from the Old Testament, where it is applied not to one or two individuals, but to the Jewish nation. They were highly favoured, they were gathered from other nations; they had the law and the prophets and means which others had not. To the Christian Church it is now said, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." Again, the very title of this Epistle shows for whom it was meant. "Elect according to the fore knowledge of God." For what is the title? The general — in Greek, the catholic — Epistle of St. Peter. Now what does this mean but that it is not for a small number of Christians, nor yet for the Church of a particular district, like some of St. Paul's Epistles; but for the Church universal, all the members of which he calls "elect"? Again, observe the first verse: "To the strangers scattered throughout Pontus," etc. As to the greater part of the persons whom he addresses, St. Peter could have known nothing of their character or habits any more than we can tell how individuals are living in private in France or Ireland. How, then, could he pronounce upon their eternal salvation? But he means nothing of the sort. He knew that life was before them; that they had light, and knowledge, and grace, and opportunities not given to others; he knew that they had been gathered into the Christian fold, which was not the case with others. Upon all these grounds he calls them elect, and predestined to this before the foundation of the world. That which is true of the Church as a whole is true of its parts. Accordingly, St. Paul, addressing different parts of the Christian body, at different times, calls them in turn elect, chosen, called, saints, sanctified. He does not mean to say that all he calls saints were so in their practice, any more than those whom we call Christians are really such. But he means that they were designed by God to be truly saints upon earth and triumphing souls in heaven. Why, I would ask, do you send missions to the heathen if you have not something to enrich them with which they possess not? You are in the light: you are a chosen people. I say not as to the use of privileges, but as to their possession. A man may shut his eyes though the sun be beaming; a man may turn back from the brink of heaven. Nevertheless, the possession of such privileges proves you to be high in God's favour — His chosen people, for an exalted purpose. II. And now WHAT DOES GOD, ACCORDING TO ST. PETER, TO HIS ELECT PEOPLE? How does He assure them of their election, and enable them to make their calling and election sure? He gives them His Spirit in their hearts: "through sanctification," it is said, "of the Spirit." It is affirmed in the following words, "that God hath elected you unto obedience." Surely to bear the fruits of the Spirit a man must have the Spirit. Therefore St. Paul writes, "Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father," etc. Let me mention two reasons why it is necessary to believe that Christians are sanctified, or receive the Spirit in their childhood. 1. The first is that our children are all expected to serve God, to renounce the devil, keep the Commandments, and believe the faith. But they are not able to do it without the Spirit. 2. When God takes away any of your children from you in their early years you have a confident belief that they are saved. 3. And this conducts me very naturally to the third point: supposing people to grow up, and to have passed the unconscious time of childhood, what is the immediate object of their sanctification? The text informs us, "Unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." The apostle is thought to allude here to the covenant God made with Israel, which was confirmed by the sprinkling of blood. Another meaning is, that the Spirit hath been given to us in order that we might obey and so be pardoned; in either case the result is the same, that without obeying Christ none shall be saved. Let me address these who think they shall be saved without obedience. It cannot be denied that this is a fearfully large number. Every man who puts off repentance thinks he can be saved without obedience; for if he keep putting it off, when does he hope to obey? Again, are there not persons who arrive at the same deceit in another way? who are not careful to inquire whether they keep the commandments of Christ, but only whether they feel in a particular manner? (J. M. Chanter, M. A.)
1. Election as an eternal act of the Divine mind is inaccessible to us; it is only in its effects that it comes within our mental cognisance. 2. This election is "according to the foreknowledge of God." God is the only and whole cause of every man's salvation. 3. The Supreme Being not only drew the plan, but continually emits a stream of energy to impel men into acquiescence with it. This energy is not physical but mental and spiritual, making man a willing co-worker with God in his own salvation. II. ELECTION IN ITS MEANS. 1. Election first shows itself in a man's separation from the world which lieth in wickedness. 2. Election is indissolubly connected with holiness as the sphere in which it moves, the atmosphere in which it breathes. 3. The holiness of the believer is not a created finite thing, like that of the angel, but an active participation in the uncreated, infinite holiness of God in virtue of the personal indwelling of the Holy Ghost. III. ELECTION IS ITS END. 1. Election has for its object our obedience.(1) The obedience of which faith is the substance, the obedience we render God when we believingly receive the truths of the gospel.(2) The obedience which faith produces. 2. But notwithstanding all our efforts, aided even by Divine grace, bitter experience reminds us that we often stumble, and sometimes fall. Is there any provision for our manifold imperfections? Yes, there is the "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" — to secure forgiveness for the sins we daily commit despite our aspirations after holiness, and to wash away the pollution cleaving to us, notwithstanding our endeavours after a higher Christian life. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
(J. Spencer.)
2. To trust upon God in all estates, seeing there is nothing but He knows and hath considered of it long since. 3. It should inflame us to piety, seeing no good can be done; but He will know it, though it be done never so secretly (Psalm 139:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:8, 9). 4. It should quicken us to the meditation and care of our assurance of our eternal salvation. God hath delighted Himself to foresee it from eternity, and shall not we foremeditate of our own glory? 5. Paul useth this as a reason why we should help and encourage Christians, and do all the good we can for them. For their names are in the book of life (Philippians 4:3, etc.). 6. When we are to choose men for any calling we should learn of God to know before, and those we see to be wicked we should never elect: custom, riches, friends, intreaty, kindred, etc., should never prevail with us. 7. It shows us how we should love one another. No time should wear out our affection; God is not wearied with love, though He set His affections upon us before the beginning of the world. 8. This doctrine of God's eternal knowledge is terrible for wicked men. (N. Byfield.)
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
(J. H. Evans.)
(W. Jay.)
(F. B. Meyer.)
(F. B. Meyer.)
(Abp. Leighton.)
2. This blood was shed. If you ask, who shed it? I answer, Judas by selling it; the priests by advising it; the people by consenting to it; Pilate by decreeing it; the soldiers by effecting it; Christ Himself by permitting it, and after presenting it to God (Hebrews 9:14), our sins, that chiefly caused it. 3. It is not enough that the blood of Christ be shed unless it be applied also, which the word "sprinkling" notes. 4. This effusion of blood was solemnly pre figured or foretold by the sacrifices of the law. For this word "sprinkled" is a metaphor borrowed from the legal sprinkling, which shows us two things.(1) The great account that God and good men make of it in that it was so solemnly and anciently typed out.(2) That the ceremonies of that Law are now abolished, seeing we have the true sprinkling of the blood. 5. That our estate in Christ is better now than our estate in Adam was. That Christ's righteousness imputed to us is better then that righteousness was, inherent in Adam. Now for the world to come; heaven is better than paradise. 6. We can never discern our comfort in the blood of Christ till we be sanctified in spirit, and set upon the reducing of our lives unto the obedience of Christ. Justification and sanctification are inseparable. (N. Byfield.)
1. They are sojourners. 2. They have one common sympathy. Scattered in dwelling, but one in heart. II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE REDEEMED. 1. Elected by the Father. 2. Salvation by Christ. 3. Sanctification by the Spirit. III. THE AFFECTIONATE DESIRE. He does not seek their restoration, nor their temporal welfare, nor their immunity from suffering or persecution, but grace and peace. 1. Grace is help. It is easy to bear trials and pains if strength is given. 2. Peace is tranquillity. It overshadows all our difficulties, and sheds a halo of light upon our course. (J. J. S. Bird, B. A.)
1. Be sure his true grace, else it will never increase. 2. Thou must increase in meekness and humility (James 4:8; Psalm 36:6, 11). 3. If thou wouldst have thy grace and peace increase, thou must be constant in the use of all the ordinances of God. As thou measureth to God in the means, so will God measure to thee in the success: thou must be much in hearing. 4. Thou must not perplex thy heart with the cares of this life, but in all things go to God by prayer, and cast all thy care upon Him (Philippians 4:6, 7). 5. Thou must be resolved upon it to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live righteously and religiously and soberly in this present world, else thou canst never meet with true peace.This likewise may be comfortable to a poor Christian, and that two ways. 1. First, If he consider that grace is not given all at once but by degrees, and therefore he must not be discouraged, though he have many wants. 2. Secondly, If he consider the bountifulness of God to all that seek grace and peace, it may be had in abundance. (N. Byfield.)
(W. Arnot.)
2. The order; first grace, then peace. Grace is the elder sister. I. WHAT IS MEANT BY GRACE? The infusion of a new and holy principle into the heart, whereby it is changed from what it was, and is made after God's own heart. II. THE AUTHOR OR EFFICIENT OF GRACE; namely, the Spirit of God, who is therefore called the Spirit of grace. The Spirit is the fountain from whence crystal streams of grace flow. 1. Universally; "the God of peace sanctify you wholly." The Spirit of God infuseth grace into all the faculties of the soul; though grace be wrought but in part, yet in every part; in the understanding light, in the conscience tenderness, in the will consent, in the affections harmony; therefore grace is compared to leaven, because it swells itself in the whole soul, and makes the conversation to rise as high as heaven. 2. The Spirit of God works grace progressively, He carries it on from one degree to another. III. WHY IS THE WORK OF HOLINESS IN THE HEART CALLED GRACE? 1. Because it has a super-eminency above nature. It is of Divine extraction (James 3:17). By reason we live the life of men, by grace we live the life of God. 2. It is called grace because it is a work of free grace; every link in the golden chain of our salvation is wrought and enamelled with free grace. IV. THE COGENCY AND NECESSITY OF GRACE. It is most needful, because it fits us for communion with God. Alexander being presented with a rich cabinet of king Darius, he reserved it to put Homer's works in, as being of great value. The heart is a spiritual cabinet into which the jewel of grace should be put. 1. Grace hath a soul-quickening excellency in it: "the just shall live by faith." Men void of grace are dead. 2. Grace hath a soul enriching excellency: "ye are enriched in all knowledge." As the sun enricheth the world with its golden beams, so doth knowledge enrich the mind. 3. Grace hath a soul-adorning excellency (1 Peter 3:4, 5). A soul decked with grace is as the dove covered with silver wings and golden feathers. 4. Grace hath a soul. cleansing excellency. Grace lays the soul a-whitening, it takes out the leopard spots, and turns the cypress into an azure beauty. Grace is of a celestial nature; though it doth not wholly remove sin, it doth subdue it; though it doth not keep sin out, it keeps it under; though sin in a gracious soul doth not die perfectly, yet it dies daily. Grace makes the heart a spiritual temple, which hath this inscription upon it, "Holiness to the Lord." 5. Grace hath a soul-strengthening excellency, it enables a man to do that which exceeds the power of nature. Grace teacheth to mortify our sins, to love our enemies, to prefer the glory of Christ before our own lives. 6. Grace hath a soul-raising excellency; it is a Divine sparkle that ascends; when the heart is Divinely touched with the loadstone of the Spirit, it is drawn up to God. Grace raiseth a man above others; he lives in the altitudes, while others creep on the earth and are almost buried in it; a Christian by the wings of grace flies aloft; the saints "mount up as eagles." A believer is a citizen of heaven. 7. Grace hath a perfuming excellency; it makes us a sweet odour to God. Hence grace is compared to those spices which are most fragrant (Song of Solomon 4:13). 8. Grace hath a soul-ennobling excellency; grace makes us vessels of honour, it sets us above princes and nobles. The saints are called kings and priests for their dignity, and jewels for their value. 9. Grace hath a soul-securing excellency, it brings safety along with it. Xerxes, the Persian, when he destroyed all the temples in Greece, caused the temple of Diana to be preserved for its beautiful structure; that soul which hath the beauty of holiness shining in it shall be preserved for the glory of the structure; God will not suffer His own temple to be destroyed. 10. Grace hath a heart-establishing excellency; "it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace." Before the infusion of grace, the heart is like a ship without a ballast; it wavers and tosseth, being ready to overturn. A gracious heart cleaves to God, and let whatever changes come, the soul is settled as a ship at anchor. 11. Grace hath a preparatory excellency in it; it prepares and fits for glory. First you cleanse the vessel, and then pour in wine. God doth first cleanse us by His grace, and then pour in the wine of glory; the silver link of grace draws the golden link of glory after it: indeed, grace differs little from glory; grace is glory in the bud, and glory is grace in the flower. In short, glory is nothing else but grace commencing and taking its degrees. 12. Grace hath an abiding excellency; temporal things are for a season, but grace hath eternity stamped upon it. Other riches take wings and fly from us; grace takes wings and flies with us to heaven. Let us try whether our grace be true; there is something looks like grace which is not. saith the devil hath a counterfeit chain to all the graces, and he would deceive us with it.Lapidaries have ways to try their precious stones; let us try our grace by a Scripture touchstone: the painted Christian shall have a painted paradise. 1. The truth of grace is seen by a displacency and antipathy against sin: "I hate every false way." 2. Grace is known by the growth of it, growth evidenceth life. 3. True grace will make us willing to suffer for Christ. Grace is like gold, it will abide the "fiery trial."Lessons: 1. If we would be enriched with this jewel of grace, let us take pains for it; we are bid to make a hue and cry after knowledge, and to search for it as a man that searcheth for a vein of gold. Our salvation cost Christ blood, it will cost us sweat. 2. Let us go to God for grace; He is called "the God of all grace." We could lose grace of ourselves, but we cannot find it of ourselves. 3. If you would have grace, engage the prayers of others in your behalf. He is like to be rich who hath several stocks going; he is in the way of spiritual thriving who hath several stocks of prayer going for him. (T. Watson.)
(J. J. Wray.)
(J. Edwards.)
(Bp. Bowman.)
1. There is an external peace, and that is — (1) (2) (3) II. WHENCE COMES THIS PEACE? This peace hath the whole Trinity for its author. 1. God the Father is the "God of peace" (Philippians 4:9). 2. God the Son is the purchaser of peace (Colossians 1:20). Christ purchased our peace upon hard terms. 3. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit clears up the work of grace in the heart, from whence ariseth peace. III. WHETHER MAY SUCH AS ARE DESTITUTE OF GRACE HAVE PEACE? NO. Peace flows from sanctification, but they being unregenerate, have nothing to do with peace: "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." They may have a truce, but no peace. IV. WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF A FALSE PEACE? 1. A false peace hath much confidence in it, but this confidence is conceit. 2. False peace separates those things which God hath joined together: God joins holiness and peace, but he who hath a false peace separates these two. He lays claim to peace, but banisheth holiness. 3. False peace is not willing to be tried; a sign they are bad wares which will not endure the light; a sign a man hath stolen goods, when he will not have his house searched. A false peace cannot endure to be tried by the Word. The Word speaks of a humbling and refining work upon the soul before peace; false peace cannot endure to hear of this; the least trouble will shake this peace, it will end in despair. V. HOW SHALL WE KNOW THAT OURS IS A TRUE PEACE? 1. True peace flows from union with Christ. We must first be ingrafted into Christ, before we can receive peace from Him. 2. True peace flows from subjection to Christ; where Christ gives peace, there He sets up His government in the heart. 3. True peace is after trouble. Many say they have peace, but is this peace before a storm, or after it? True peace is after trouble. VI. WHETHER HAVE ALL SANCTIFIED PERSONS THIS PEACE? They have a title to it; they have the ground of it; grace is the seed of peace, and it will in time turn to peace, as the blossoms of a tree to fruit, milk to cream. VII. BUT WHY HAVE NOT ALL BELIEVERS THE FULL ENJOYMENT AND POSSESSION OF PEACE? WHY IS NOT THIS FLOWER OF PEACE FULLY RIPE AND BLOWN? 1. Through the fury of temptation. 2. Through mistake and misapprehension about sin. 3. Through remissness in duty. VIII. WHAT SHALL WE DO TO ATTAIN THIS BLESSED PEACE? 1. Ask it of God. 2. Make war with sin. 3. Go to Christ's blood for peace. 4. Walk closely with God.Walk very holily: God's Spirit is first a refiner before a comforter. (T. Watson.)
1. In his heart, when, refreshed with God's favour and inflamed with the joys of His presence, he doth lift up his heart with affection, striving to laud God and acknowledge His mercy. 2. In his tongue, when he taketh to him words, and openeth his lips to confess and praise God either in secret or openly. 3. In his works, and that —(1) When he sets up memorials of God's great works or deliverances.(2) When he receives the sacrament, setting himself apart to celebrate the memory of Christ's death.(3) By the obedience of his life, striving to glorify God in a holy conversation.(4) And lastly, by showing mercy, and thereby causing others to bless God. II. GREAT REASON HATH MAN TO BLESS GOD. 1. For God is blessedness itself, and whither should the water run but into the sea, from whence it is originally taken. 2. Besides, the Lord hath required our praise, as the chief means of glorifying Him. 3. And He hath blessed us, and therefore we have great reason to bless Him. He hath blessed us in the creatures, in His Son, by His angels, by His ministers; blessed us in the blessings of the gospel, blessed us in His house, and in our own houses, in our sabbaths, sacraments, the Word, prayer, etc., blessed us in our souls, bodies, states, names, etc. (N. Byfield.)
1. It should be the ruling principle of our lives. How much happiness is lost by forgetting the privileges we enjoy! Thankfulness in our lives would enable us to appreciate what we already possess. 2. It should be the keynote of our prayers. It is discouraging to bestow favour on a hard and unthankful recipient. 3. It should permeate all our religion. There is something in praise that softens the heart and ennobles the mind. II. THE GRAND REASON WHICH DEMANDS THIS SPIRIT. It is the regeneration which is in Christ Jesus. This regeneration is represented as introducing us to three grand privileges, which may well excite our praise. 1. A prospect of eternal life — "To a lively hope." 2. A prospect of unchanging possession — "To an inheritance incorruptible," etc. 3. A possession of perfect protection — "Who are guarded" by the power of God. 4. A prospect of perfect victory — "Unto salvation." (J. J. S. Bird, B. A.)
1. Who is this of whom the prophet speaks? — God. 2. In what aspect does the Supreme present Himself? — As the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 3. What has He done? — Begotten us again; made us new creatures. 4. From what motive has He acted? — According to His abundant mercy. 5. By what means has He accomplished this great change? — By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 6. To what end in the experience of His people does He thus work? — To a living hope burning in their hearts here, and an inheritance incorruptible beyond the grave. (W. Arnot.)
1. Reverent. 2. Loving. 3. Intelligent. 4. Grateful. II. Praise to God, FOR A BRIGHT HOPE OF A GLORIOUS FUTURE. 1. It is praise to God for a hope. (1) (2) 2. It is praise to God for a future. (1) (2) III. Praise to God, FOR HIS WONDERFUL METHODS OF ENSURING THE FUTURE AND INSPIRING THAT HOPE. 1. The future is ensured. (1) (2) (3) 2. How is the hope of the future inspired and preserved? (1) (2) (U. R. Thomas.)
2. The new birth. If we are to enjoy heaven we must be born again, have new tastes. 3. A living hope. This irradiates all the future. Earthly hopes are dying hopes. The most that the worldly man can say is, "while I breathe I hope." But the Christian's hope is not crushed by death; it is a living hope in that He gives me life. See yonder swimmer tossed about by the waves; he is sinking, but at last they see him; a boat puts off; the cry is raised from the pier head; the rescuers are on their way; he lifts himself once more, he sees the boat sweeping towards him; he has a living hope; he struggles a little longer, until the rescuers are able to pull him into the boat. So it is with our hope; living hope inspires us with courage. 4. Then he comes to the blessing, which is like the central shaft of the candlestick — the blessing upon which all the rest depends — the risen Christ. "By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." We worship no dead hero, but a living, loving Lord. 5. "An incorruptible inheritance." I once received a letter asking me to preach a sermon about heaven. I cannot preach about heaven. St. Peter could not. He could only tell us what it was not. 6. The guaranteed preservation. "Kept by the power of God." 7. "Salvation to be revealed." (E. A. Stuart, M. A.)
1. Regenerating, or begetting, is of itself a benefit; we get life by it if nothing else. 2. But to beget to an inheritance is more than simply to beget. 3. And yet more than that, to beget to such an inheritance as this, of which so many things are here spoken.For the order we will put the words in no other, for we can put them in no better than they stand. 1. God first, and the true God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2. Then His mercy, the cause moving. 3. Then Christ's resurrection, the means working. 4. Then our regeneration, the act producing.Producing hope of the inheritance, then after the inheritance we hope for. Of which two points there are: How it is qualified, uncorrupt, undefiled, not fading. Then, how seated, even in heaven there it is, there kept it is. Now then for these. For His mercy first: for our regenerating by His mercy; for the hope of this inheritance, but more for the inheritance itself, specially such a one so conditioned as here is set down; for keeping it for us in heaven; for keeping us for it on earth. For these all, but above all for the means of all, the rising of Christ, the gate of this hope, the pledge of this inheritance; for these owe we this Benedictus to God. To God the Father and to Christ our Lord, by whom and by whose rising, lose this life when we will, we have hope of a better; betide our inheritance on earth what shall, we have another kept for us in heaven. Thus every one naturally ariseth out of other. Blessed be God. Yea, blessed and thanked and praised; but here blessed suits best, that the most proper return for a blessing that we inherit is the blessing (1 Peter 3:9). The hope is a blessed hope (Titus 2:13). But the inheritance is the state of blessedness itself. Therefore Benedictus is said well. But thereby hangs a scruple; for what are we that we should take upon us to bless God? Yes, He us, and we Him too, as if they were reciprocal, one the echo, the reflection of the other. Equal they are not. It were fond to imagine the Father gives the child no other blessing but the child can give him as good again. What then? He that wisheth heartily would do more than wish if his power were according. What say we, then, when we say Benedictus? It is a word compound; take it in sunder, and dicere is, to say somewhat, to speak; and that we can; and bene is (speaking), to speak well; and that we ought. To speak, is confession; to speak well, is praise; and praise becometh Him, and us to give it Him. And what good can we wish Him that He hath not? Say we it, say we it not, He is blessed alike. True to Him we cannot wish; not to His person; but to His name we can, and to His Word we can; we can wish it more devoutly heard. God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the style of the New Testament, ye read it not in the Old. The sun was yet under the horizon, but now up, and of a good height.(1) Blessed be God; say that, and no more, and never a Jew, Turk, or Pagan but will say as much. We would not bestow our Benedictus upon any but the true God, so settle our Benedictus upon the right God.(2) For this cause, but not for this alone, when we bless Him I daresay we would bless Him with His best title. So hath it ever been. You shall observe in titles ever upon the coming of a greater, the less is laid down. For if this be to be God, to be bounteous, beneficial. In nothing was God ever so beneficial as in sending His only begotten Son into the world. This shall be His title forever. Forever to have a chief place in our Benedictus. And yet there is another on Christ's behalf, our Lord; even to bring Him in too. For, seeing all that which follows comes not but by the rising of Christ, we cannot leave Him out. All the good that comes to us, as it comes to us from God, so it comes to us by Christ. This is most plain; first, that did generate Christ; before that did regenerate us. If He not generate, we not regenerate; then no children, then no inheritance. For in Him this text, and all other texts, are yea and amen. By this time we see why this addition, it is His title of severance, it is the highest title of His honour; it takes in Christ, who would not be left out in our Benedictus. From the party whom we pass to the cause, why. For we say not this Benedictus, as we say many a one here, without any cause; Benedictus for nothing; nay, for God is ever aforehand with us. For generation is the proper act of a Father. But before we come to it let us not stride over that which stands before it. God did this, did all that follows, but upon what motive? According to His mercy. And mercy accords well with a Father; no compassion like His. But the benefits ensuing are too great to run in the common current of mercy. "Great," therefore according to His great mercy. Mercy, the thing; great, the measure; a word of number rather than magnitude. The meaning is, no single mercy would do it; no, though great, there must be many. For many the defects to be removed, many the sins to be forgiven, many the perfections to be attained, therefore, according to His manifold mercy. "According" is well said. For that indeed is the chord, to which this and all our Benedictuses are to be tuned. Yea, many times blessed for His manifold mercies. Mercy, then, first; regeneration second, the act of this mercy. Verily, even for our natural generation, we owe Him a Benedictus. No man by his first birth, be it never so high or noble, is a whir the nearer this inheritance. Now "re" hath in it two powers. "Re" is "again" the second time. For two there be, that old creation, and the new creature in Christ. But "re" is not only again, but "again" upon a loss. Not a second only, but a second upon the failing of the first. So doth redemption, a buying again, upon a former aliening. Reconciliation, upon a former falling out. Restitution, upon a former attainder. Resurrection, upon a fall taken formerly. Regeneration, upon a former degenerating, from our first estate. Our first would not serve; it was corrupt, it was defiled, it did degenerate. There was more then need of a new, a second, a regeneration, to make us children of grace again, and so of life. This act of regenerating is determined doubly, Αἴς is twice repeated. To hope first, then to the inheritance; ye may put them together, to the hope of an inheritance. But because an inheritance is no present matter; it is to come, and to be coming to. From begetting, we step not straight to entering upon our inheritance. There needs no great Benedictus for hope. For what is hope? What, but a waking man's dream? And such hopes there be many in the world. But this is none such. To show it is none such it is severed by two terms: regeneravit and vivam. They are worth the marking both.(a) Regeneravit, first; that it is spes generata. So this a substantial hope, called therefore by St. Paul the "helmet of hope" (1 Thessalonians 5), the "anchor of hope" (Hebrews 6), things of substance, that will hold, that have metal in them.(b) Then mark vivam. And vivam follows well of regeneravit. For they that are begotten are so to live, to have life. Vivam also imports there is a dead or a dying hope, but this is not such but a living.Nay, viva is more than vivens, lively, then living. Where viva is said of ought the meaning is they spring, they grow, they have life in themselves. And, indeed, regeneravit is a good verb to join with hope. There is in hope a kind of regendering power; it begets men anew. And viva is a good epithet for it. When one droops give him hope, his spirits will come to him afresh, it will make him alive again. And for such a hope blessed be God. And whence hath it this life? The next word shows it, vivam, per resurrectionem. The vigour it hath from Christ rising, and by His rising opening to us the gate of life at large. Life by the resurrection, the true life indeed. Not to live here still, but to rise again and live as Christ did. We for the most part put it wrong, for we put it in them that must die, and then must our hope die with them, and so prove a dying hope. But put it in one that dies not, that shall never die, and then it will be spes viva indeed. No reed, no cobweb-hope then; but helmet, anchor hope — hope that will never confound you. And who is that, or where is He, that we might hope in Him? That is Jesus Christ, our hope; so calls Him St. Paul (1 Timothy 1:1). Yet not Christ every way considered; not as yesterday, in the grave, nor as the day before, giving up the ghost upon the Cross, dead, and buried, yields but dead hope. But in Jesus Christ rising again. We pass now to the inheritance. But as we pass will ye observe the situation first? It is well worth your observing that the resurrection is placed in the midst, between our hope and our inheritance. To hope before it, before the resurrection, hope; but after to the inheritance itself, to the full possession and fruition of it. An "inheritance" accords well with "according to His mercy." We have it not of ourselves or by our merits, but of Him and by His mercies. Else were it a purchase and no inheritance. It comes to us freely, as the inheritance to children. Well with mercy, and well with regeneravit. For the inheritance is of children. Nor shall we need to doubt any prejudice to God, from whom it comes, by our coming to this inheritance. Here the inheritance comes not but by the death of the party in possession, but there no prejudice to the ancestor; he dies not for the heir to succeed. Nor no prejudice to the heir neither; to us by Him, not to Him by us. It is not as here, one carries it from all, and all the rest go without; or if they come in his part is the less. So say we again now, one thing to be born to an inheritance, another to such an inheritance as this here. For in inheritances there is great odds, one much better than another even here with us. St. Peter writes to the dispersed Jews, and by in caelo, he gives them an item, this inheritance is no new Canaan here on earth, nor Christ any earthly Messiahs to settle them in a new land of promise. "In heaven," then. There it is first, and there it is kept; the being there one, the keeping another. For that there it is kept is happy for us. Earth would not keep it, here it would be in hazard. It would go the same way Paradise went. Since it would be lost in earth it is kept in heaven. And a Benedictus for that too, as for the regenerating us to it here on earth, so for the keeping, the preserving of it there in heaven. Kept, and for us kept, else all were nothing, that makes up all that it is not only preserved, but reserved for us there. But reserved yet under the veil. But time shall come when the veil shall be taken off, and of that which is now within it there shall be a reveiling. Only it stayeth till the work of regeneration be accomplished. For these come we now to our Benedictus. For if God, according to His manifold mercy, have done all this for us, we also, according to our duty, are to do somewhat again. First, then, dictus, somewhat would be said by way of recognition; this hath God done for us, and more also. But to say Benedictus anyway is not to content us, but to say it solemnly. How is that? Benedictus in our mouth and the holy Eucharist in our hands. And yet this is not all; we are not to stay here, but to aspire farther, even to strive to be like to God, and be like God we shall not unless our dicere be facere as His is, unless somewhat be done withal. In very deed there is no blessing, but with the hand stretched out. (Bp. Andrewes.)
1. Was it a small matter that moved God to choose thee to salvation, rather than thousands of others, or was it a small mercy to give us His only Son, to deliver us by suffering all the wrath due to us? 2. Is it a small measure of mercy to call us to the hope of salvation from our wretched estate when we went on in sin, and minded no good, nay, all evil? 3. They that have had their part in this abundant mercy must be stirred up to abundant thanksgiving (Psalm 116:12-14). We must testify our love in zealous obedience all the days of our life, showing forth the virtues of Him that hath called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. 4. It teaches us also to show mercy to one another: in giving, forgiving, and the like. 5. It shows also the miserableness of our estate, that without abundant mercy we can never be saved. (John Rogers.)
I. I see in the text, as the source of all the rest, ABUNDANT MERCY. No other attribute could have helped us had "mercy" refused. As we are by nature, justice condemns us, holiness frowns upon us, power crushes us, truth confirms the threatening of the law, and wrath fulfils it. It is from the mercy of God that all our hopes begin. Mercy is needed for the miserable, and yet more for the sinful. Misery and sin are fully united in the human race, and mercy here performs her noblest deeds. God has vouchsafed His mercy to us, and we must thankfully acknowledge that in our case His mercy has been "abundant" mercy. Where sin hath abounded, grace hath much more abounded. Contemplate the abundant mercy of our blessed God. A river deep and broad is before you. Track it to its fountainhead; see it welling up in the covenant of grace, in the eternal purposes of infinite wisdom. The secret source is no small spring, no mere bubbling fount, it is a very Geyser, leaping aloft in fulness of power; the springs of the sea are not comparable therewith. Not even an angel could fathom the springs of eternal love or measure the depths of infinite grace. Follow now the stream; mark it in all its course. See how it widens and deepens, how at the Cross it expands into a measureless river! Mark how the filthy come and wash; see how each polluted one comes up milk-white from the washing! 1. It is God's great mercy that is spoken of herein. You must measure His Godhead before you shall compute His mercy. 2. But note again, it is the mercy of the "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." When I see Jesus descending from heaven to earth, paying all the debts of His people, I can well understand that the mercy of God in Christ must be abundant mercy. 3. Note carefully another word, it is the mercy of "the Father." The Father of Him who is the perfect and the ever blessed is also your Father, and all His mercy belongs to you. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name." II. The next great blessing in the text is that of INCORRUPTIBLE LIFE. Mark that, O believer. One of the first displays of Divine mercy which we experience is being begotten again. Our first birth gave us the image of the first Adam — "earthly"; our second birth, and that alone, gives us the image of the second Adam, which is "heavenly." 1. The new life of a Christian is Divine in its origin — God hath begotten us. The new life cometh not from man, it is wrought by the operation of the Holy Ghost. As certainly as God spake, and it was done, in the creation of the world, so He speaks in the heart of man, and it is done, and the new creature is born. 2. The new life in us, as it has a Divine origin, has also a Divine nature. Ye are made partakers of the Divine nature. The Holy Spirit Himself enters the believer and abides in him, and makes him a living man. What a great mystery is this, but at the same time what a blessing! Observe, to be begotten again is a very marvellous thing. Suppose a man born into this world with a predisposition to some sad hereditary disease. There he is, filled with disease, and medicine cannot eject the unwelcome tenant from his body. Suppose that man's body could be altogether new born, and he could receive a new body pure from all taint, it would be a great mercy. But it does not approach to regeneration, because our supposition only deals with the body, while the new birth renews the soul, and even implants a higher nature. Regeneration overcomes not a mere material disease, not an infliction in the flesh, but the natural depravity of the heart, the deadly disorder of the soul. III. A third blessing, strictly connected with this new life, is a LIVELY HOPE. "He hath begotten us again unto a lively hope." Could a man live without hope? Men manage to survive the worst condition of distress when they are encouraged by a hope, but is not suicide the natural result of the death of hope? Yes, we must have a hope, and the Christian is not left without one. 1. He has "a lively hope," that is to say, first, he has a hope within him, real, true, and operative. A Christian's hope purifies him, excites him to diligence, makes him seek after that which he expects to obtain. 2. It is a "lively hope" in another sense, namely, that it cheers and enlivens. 3. It is also called a "living hope," because it is imperishable. Other hopes fade like withering flowers. The only imperishable hope is that which climbs above the stars, and fixes itself upon the throne of God and the person of Jesus Christ. 4. The hope which God has given to His truly quickened people is a lively hope, however, mainly because it deals with life. Charles Borromeo, the famous bishop of Milan, ordered a painter who was about to draw a skeleton with a scythe over a sepulchre to substitute for it the golden key of Paradise. Truly this is a most fitting emblem for a believer's tomb, for what is death but the key of heaven to the Christian? We notice frequently over cemetery gates, as an emblematic device, a torch turned over ready to be quenched. Ah, it is not so, the torch of our life burns the better, and blazes the brighter for the change of death. IV. We notice another delightful possession which ought effectually to chasten away from all of us the glooms of this life, and that is a risen SAVIOUR. Jesus Christ died, not in appearance, but in reality; in proof whereof His heart was pierced by the soldier's spear. He was laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, truly a corpse. He really and literally rose from the dead, — the selfsame Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, and afterwards ascended into heaven. Now, note ye well the comfort which arises out of this fact, since it proves that we possess a living advocate, mediator, and high priest, who has passed into the heavens. Moreover, since all believers, being partakers of the incorruptible life of God, are one with Jesus Christ, that which happens to Him virtually happens to them. They died in His death, they live in His life, they reign in His glory. V. The fifth is AS INCORRUPTIBLE INHERITANCE. A heavenly nature requires a heavenly inheritance, heaven-born children must have a heavenly portion. 1. First, as this substance — it is "incorruptible. 2. Next, for purity — it is "undefiled." 3. And then it is added for its beauty, — "it fadeth not away." 4. And then for possession, it is secure reserved in heaven for you. VI. The sixth blessing is INVIOLABLE SECURITY. The inheritance is kept for you, and you are kept for the inheritance. The word is a military one, it signifies a city garrisoned and defended. Each believer is kept by that same power which "bears the earth's huge pillars up," and sustains the arches of heaven. VII. Out of the seven treasures of the Christian the last comprehends all, is better than all — it is a blessed God. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." It is joy to have heaven, it is joy to possess a new life to fit me for heaven, but the greatest of all is to have my God, my own Saviour's God, my Father, my own Saviour's Father, to be all my own. God Himself has said, "I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (C. H. Spurgeon.)
I. WE HAVE HERE THE "ABUNDANT MERCY" OF GOD IN PRODUCING A LIVING HOPE IN THE BREAST OF REBELS AGAINST HIS AUTHORITY. This expression implies three things: 1. That humanity once had a living hope. The breast of man, in the short but bright period of innocence, was indeed inspired with a living hope. 2. That mankind have somehow or Other lost this living hope. We know how they lost it. It was sin that quenched this glorious lamp. 3. That the reproduction of this living hope is a wonderful display of Divine mercy. Justice overwhelms the sinner with terror and midnight despair. II. WE HAVE HERE THE "ABUNDANT MERCY" OF GOD, IN THE TRANSCENDENT VALUE OF THE OBJECT ON WHICH THIS LIVING HOPE IS FASTENED. "An inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, etc. Hope always implies an object. The value of the hope depends upon the nature of the object. III. WE HAVE HERE THE "ABUNDANT MERCY" OF GOD, IN THE WONDERFUL INSTRUMENTALITY BY WHICH THIS LIVING HOPE IS REPRODUCED. It is "begotten again by the resurrection of Christ from the dead." How does the resurrection of Christ appear necessary for the reproduction in man of this living hope? 1. Christ taught the existence both of the desirable and the obtainable in connection with the future state. In the nature of the case hope implies both of these things. This something Christ presented in His teaching. He revealed to men heaven in all its glories, and He revealed too the manner in which that heaven could be obtained. Hence His teaching was in every way adapted to generate this living hope in the minds of men. 2. His resurrection from the dead was an incontrovertible proof of the truth of what He taught. IV. WE HAVE HERE THE "ABUNDANT MERCY" OF GOD, IN THE ALMIGHTY AGENCY HE EMPLOYS, TO SECURE THE ULTIMATE REALISATION OF THIS LIVING HOPE. 1. The implied necessity of God's preserving agency "Who are kept." No power but that of God can keep us. 2. The expressed method of God's preserving agency. "Through faith." He always works by means. 3. The glorious designs of God's preserving agency. "Unto eternal salvation." And in this constant agency what "abundant mercy"! "Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever." (Homilist.)
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
I. IT IS A LIVING HOPE. 1. The living hope of a living man. A man spiritually dead cannot possess this hope. It is not a phantasy. It is not an effeminate wish, or a masculine wish for that matter; it is not a mere sentiment or a fond desire. It is a living hope! It is an indivisible, inalienable part of his new life, and it cannot exist in any other heart than that of the spiritually transformed man — the man who is "begotten again." 2. It is a living hope because it centres in a living Christ. Begotten to it, how? "By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." The life of Christ, so full of goodness, and love, and purity, and self-sacrifice, and His death, so awful, the culminating sacrifice of all, were not enough. He must come back into life, or no sinner can be forgiven. Blessed be God! He did come back! 3. The Christian's hope is a living one as contrasted with and opposed to hopes that perish. God hath pledged its realisation under the seal of His own oath. II. GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF THIS HOPE. He hath begotten us again to it. It is all of His abundant mercy. Therefore let us bless Him for it. And let us show our gratitude to Him by letting the light of our hope shine on others. III. THE INHERITANCE TO WHICH THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE POINTS. (E. D. Solomon.)
I. THESE ANTICIPATIONS OUGHT TO HAVE A PLACE IN OUR THOUGHTS, IN OUR CONVERSATIONS, IN OUR PRAYERS, IN OUR AFFECTIONS, AND IN THE ACTIVITIES OF OUR LIVES. It is the fashion of some preachers to decry this "other world religion," as they call it. They say, "We have nothing whatever to do with the other world; the present life demands all our care," and they would severely repress all interest in the future life. The human heart rebels against all such unnatural restriction. You may just as well say to the mariner, "Because there are rocks and quicksands in the course which you have to take you must never lift up your eyes to the stars, but keep them steadily fixed on the waters you have to cross." "Why," he would say, "I guide my way across the waters of this world by the light of other worlds." And so the Christian mariner can say, "I guide my course through this world by the light and the hope and the influence of the other world." II. OUR THOUGHTS OF THE FUTURE LIFE SHOULD BE CHARACTERISED BY MODERATION, REVERENCE, AND SPIRITUALITY. Let us be content with the beautiful simplicity and lofty spirituality of the New Testament representations as a life of glorious spiritual progress, of freedom from sin, holy love, honourable service, delightful fellowship, and a growing likeness to Christ; "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is," We shall be with Him, and we shall do Him service. (F. Binns.)
II. CHRISTIAN HOPE IN THE DIVINITY OF ITS SOURCE. III. CHRISTIAN HOPE IN THE MEDIUM OF ITS PRODUCTION. Jesus, by His resurrection, the proof, pledge, and pattern of our future heavenly happiness. IV. CHRISTIAN HOPE IN THE GLORY OF ITS OBJECT. 1. Vast "inheritance." 2. Righteous — gotten rightly and enjoyed rightly. 3. Everlasting. V. CHRISTIAN HOPE IN THE CERTAINTY OF ITS REALISATION. (B. D. Johns.)
1. It is lively in the sense of living. It is not delusive. It is no self-excited sentiment — the fruit of ignorance and presumption. It has a real, a well-defined, and well-ascertained existence in the heart. 2. It is a lively hope in the sense of activity. It produces courage, patience, holiness. II. THE OBJECT OF THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE. "An inheritance," etc. III. THE METHOD OF ATTAINING THIS HOPE. 1. Its author is God. It is a Divine creation in the heart. 2. This gift of God is prompted by His abundant mercy. 3. Yet the mercy which restores hope to man is not indiscriminate — it is the mercy of righteousness. 4. The medium through which this blessing reaches us — "the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." This was pre eminently the Divine attestation of the truth of the Saviour's Messianic mission. IV. THE SECURITY OR THE POSSESSORS OF THIS HOPE. (Thos. Brookes.)
1. Divine sonship. We become the children of God — both in reference to state and character, to condition and disposition — through the belief of the truth; and this belief of the truth is produced and maintained by the influence of the Holy Spirit. 2. The inheritance provided for them. 3. The living hope of the inheritance, through the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead. This hope rests entirely on God's free sovereign kindness, manifested in harmony with His righteousness; but it is only in the belief of the truth that this sovereign kindness can be apprehended as a ground of hope. II. THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THESE BLESSINGS. 1. God is the author of these blessings. 2. It is as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that God bestows these blessings. In the riches of His sovereign mercy He determined to save an innumerable multitude of sinful men, and in the depth of His wisdom He formed a plan for realising the determination of His mercy, not merely in consistency with, but in glorious illustration of, His holiness and justice. 3. These blessings originate in the "abundant mercy" of God.(1) Think on the character of Him who bestows these blessings — the absolute, independent Jehovah, perfectly, infinitely, unchangeably, happy in Himself.(2) Think on the nature of the blessings, — the very highest that can be conferred on creatures, and in their measure limited by nothing but the capacity of the recipient.(3) Think on the character of those on whom they are bestowed — sinners, guilty, depraved, condemned; deserving everlasting destruction.(4) Think of the number of those on whom these blessings are bestowed (Revelation 21:24; Revelation 7:9).(5) Think of the means through which the blessings are communicated — the Incarnation, the sacrifice of God's own son (1 John 4:10; John 3:16). 4. These blessings are of vast magnitude and incalculable value. They include deliverance from guilt, depravity, degradation, death, everlasting misery; the enjoyment of the favour of God, tranquillity of conscience, ever-growing conformity to the Divine image, and happiness throughout eternity. 5. The proper method of acknowledging these benefits is "to bless" their munificent giver. This is one of the purposes for which we are begotten again (Isaiah 43:21; 1 Peter 2:9). Our whole life should be a hymn of praise to the God of our salvation (Psalm 103:1-4; Psalm 86:12, 13; Romans 12:1; Hebrews 13:15, 16; Revelation 5:13). (J. Brown, D. D.)
I. PETER'S HIGH CONCEPTION HERE OF GOD'S MERCY. Peter does not undertake to measure or to describe it. It is a mercy that has filled him with wonderment and with boundless gratitude. Peter speaks these words out of the exuberance of his own joy. That word "us" has a "me" at the heart of it. The powerful preacher is the man who preaches out of his own experience; and thus the greatest sinner forgiven must always be the greatest witness, if he is only true to his privilege. No other disciple had experienced the intense grief which Peter had felt. Hence the special significance of these words upon his lips. This word "again" further emphasises the testimony. All hope had practically died out of Peter. He thought everything had ended in darkness; hence the thanks he gives to Him who had begotten him and his brethren unto a lively hope. II. PETER'S HIGH CONCEPTION OF THE HOPE UNTO WHICH HE AND OTHERS HAD BEEN BEGOTTEN. It was a hope full of life. Peter had no patience with anything that did not abound with life. He himself was all alive, whether he confessed or denied his Lord. His was an intense nature. And when hope was rekindled in him, it was a living hope. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, had that living hope. Then he spoke in the face of the mightiest opposition, spoke only as a man with a flaming heart and a fiery tongue could have spoken. He attributed all this hope to God's mercy. "It was the gift of another," said Peter, practically; "I never could work myself up into this enthusiasm. All my energy was gone, and my enthusiasm had died out of me; but He who gave His Son has given me again this lively hope." III. PETER'S HIGH CONCEPTION OF THE INHERITANCE IN STORE FOR US — "AN INHERITANCE INCORRUPTIBLE AND UNDEFILED," etc. This assurance, if you possess it, ought to make a difference to all your life. Here is a man who believes that this life of fifty, sixty, or seventy years, as the case may be, embraces everything: that there is nothing beyond it for him. What noble heroism can you expect of that man? But here is another man who feels that, after all, this life is but the preparatory period, the time of schooling for an inheritance in which life shall show its full meaning, and every capacity of our being shall be ennobled and find full exercise. I will tell you what such a man ought to be. I do not say what those who profess to believe this often are, but what each of them ought to be. (D. Davies.)
(H. W. Beecher.)
(Stanley's Life of Arnold.)
(Geo. MacDonald.)
II. Man then needs a hope, RESTING ON SOMETHING BEYOND THIS SCENE OF SENSE AND TIME. And God has given him one, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Our Lord indeed taught, in the plainest language, the reality of a future life (John 14:2; Matthew 25:46; Matthew 6:20; Luke 20:38). He contributed to the establishment of this truth in the deepest convictions of men, not merely many lessons taught in words, but a fact, palpable to the senses. His resurrection converted hopes, surmises, speculations, trains of inference, into strong certainties. Not that the fact of Christ's resurrection could force itself upon reluctant minds, or rather upon reluctant wills, in the earliest ages, as now, there were expedients for evading its force. The evangelical narrative, the convictions of the earliest Church, the moral strength of the Church, advancing through blood and suffering to the heights of a worldwide empire, resist these expedients, as inconsistent with fact, inconsistent with reason. There are at least three forms of interest which might be accorded to such a fact as the resurrection. The first, the interest of curiosity in a wonder, altogether at variance with the observed course of nature. This interest may exist in a high degree; observing and registering the fact, yet never for one moment getting beyond it. The second, the interest of active reason, which is satisfied that such a fact must have consequences and is anxious to trace them. This interest may lead a man to see that the resurrection does prove the truth of Christianity, even though he may know nothing of the power of Christ's blood and of Christ's life as a matter of experience. A third kind of interest is practical and moral. It is an effort to answer the question, What does the resurrection of Christ say to me, mean for me? If it is true, if Christianity is true, what ought to be the effect on my thoughts, my feelings, my life? Now St. Peter answers that all should be invigorated by a living hope. Burthen this absorbing moral interest does not come of ordinary powers of observation and reason, like the two earlier forms of interest. We are, says St. Peter, "begotten" unto it. Of this birth, the Father of souls is the Author, and His Eternal Spirit the instrument, and union with Christ the essence or effect. It does much else for us; but it does this among other things, and not least among them: it endows us with a living hope. III. St. Peter calls THIS "HOPE" A LIVELY, OR LIVING, ONE. What does he mean by this? There are within many a soul trances of powers, ideas, feelings, which once lived, but which have died away. We investigate them from time to time, like the buried ruins of Pompeii or Herculaneum. But a Christian's hops endures. Earthly disappointments do but force us to make more of it. The lapse of time does but bring us nearer to its object. Surely we can ask ourselves few questions so important as "Have I this hope?" Not to have this hope is to be living at random; it is to be drifting on towards eternity without a chart in hand, or a harbour in view. And if we humbly trust that we have this hope, what are the tests of our possessing it? 1. A first test is that earthly things sit easily upon us. We are not uninterested in them: far from it. We know how much depends on our way of dealing with them. But, also, we are not enslaved by them. To have caught a real glimpse of the eternal is to have lost heart and relish for the things of time. 2. A second test of our having this hope is a willingness to make sacrifices for it. "What difference do my hopes of another world make in my daily life? What am I doing, what do I leave undone, that I should not leave undone or do, if I believed that all really ended at death? What changes would be made in my habits, occupations, daily modes of thought and feeling, if — to put a horrible supposition — I could awake tomorrow morning and find that Christ's conquest of the eternal world for me was a fable?" 3. A third test is progressive efforts to prepare for the future life (1 John 3:3). (Canon Liddon.)
II. III. (J. E. H. Meier.)
II. THE ONLY RIGHT VIEW OF THIS GREAT AND MOST IMPORTANT FACT OF THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FROM THE GRAVE. The text shows us what effect true faith in this great fact had produced upon the first Christians: by it they were "begotten again unto a lively hope." It was in them a practical truth — it touched their hearts. Through the power of it, in the presence and influence of the Holy Ghost, they were anew created, new born unto God. It was a hope which was embodied in their whole character, gave strength and substance to all they did, and was to them that "hope which" was "laid up for them in heaven" (Colossians 1:5). Hence we see that a real and justifying belief of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ acts immediately upon the will and the affections. (H. Marriott.)
(H. Melvill, B. D.)
I. IN THE GREAT NUMBER OF THE SAVED. II. IN THE GREATNESS OF THE CHANGE which takes place in this great multitude. The very life of God is transmitted to the soul of the believer in regeneration. III. IN THE GREATNESS OF THE INHERITANCE. 1. "Incorruptible." Heaven has in it the power of endless rejuvenation. 2. "Undefiled." Its worth is intrinsic; it does not sometimes go up and sometimes come down; its value is the same the centuries through; it was worth the blood of Christ two thousand years ago, and it is worth the blood today again. 3. "That fadeth not away" — amaranthine, evergreen, always fruitful, always beautiful. No autumn winds strip the trees of their foliage, no winter blasts rob the fields of their verdure. A pamphlet was being lately circulated in this country to persuade English men to emigrate to Texas, and one reason adduced was that the soil being so rich and the climate so equably soft, two harvests could be gathered in one year. A very cogent reason, doubtless, if true. But my text speaks of a better country than Texas — a country which will yield not two crops, but twelve crops in the twelve months (Revelation 22:2). IV. IN THE GREATNESS OF THE EXPENSE to which He went to be able to confer this great inheritance. V. IN THE GREATNESS OF THE POWER that is pledged to bring the great multitude to the possession of the inheritance. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
1. "Incorruptible." The principle of decay is not in it. The pyramid crumbles at the touch of time, and the long-during mountains shake under the footstep of ages; but eternal cycles roll over the plains of heaven without impairing the beauty or paling the brilliance of the "incorruptible" inheritance. 2. "Undefiled." Inherently and essentially pure. 3. "Fadeth not away." II. THE INHERITANCE OF THE GOOD IS IN SAFE KEEPING — "RESERVED IN HEAVEN." This "inheritance" could not be on earth. Its vitality would perish. Its purity would be sullied. Its brightness would be dimmed. It is necessary that it should be "reserved" or kept back for a season. You may have seen a parent reach down from an eminence some valuable article and show it to the child; the child has lifted his tiny hands to grasp the prize, but the parent has interposed, saying, "No, my son, this is for you when you are a man." Precisely so with us; wait until you are "made meet to be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light." In what does this meetness consist? Undoubtedly in moral manhood. The soul is to "become of age" by growth in moral purity and moral power. 1. A recognition of God in everything. In battle, and storm, and plague, the clear eye of moral man looks up, knowing that Omnipotence guides that storm, and guards the child's "inheritance." 2. Power over every combination of circumstances. The man is perfectly calm in positions which alarm the child. The "heir" knows that even if circumstances should press so heavily upon him that his "earthly house of this tabernacle should be dissolved," he has "a building of God — a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:5). 3. An intelligent decisiveness of character. Is your conviction strong and intelligent? Is your purpose high and determined? Never was fixedness of moral view more essential to progress than in the present day. Every breeze seems laden with refined error and mystic heresy. Know well your doctrines; fix your eye earnestly on the beacon lights of immutable truth. III. THE INHERITANCE IS THE PORTION OF A SPECIAL CLASS. "Kept." 1. By the supreme love of their omnipotent Saviour (John 10:28, 29). The Lord Jesus not only redeemed His people, He is at this hour interceding for them; and His intercession keeps the saints. Peter was kept (Luke 22:31) by the Saviour's mediation. 2. By the ministry of angels. This reflection is illustrative not only of the goodness of the Lord, but also of the dignity of the saved. No guardian band keeps watch over the sun in his glorious palace, no eyes glitter upon the stars as upon an appointed charge; but spirits, pure and strong, hover around the humble child of God. They constitute the military guard of the minor heir, and when he attains his majority they cease to be his protectors only that they may become his companions. 3. By the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. IV. THE INHERITANCE OF THE GOOD CAN BE ENTERED UPON ONLY IN GOD'S OWN TIME. "Ready to be revealed in the last time." The Bible does not hold out heaven as an inducement to cease from earthwork, nor as a prize to be seized unconditionally. Is it your highest wish to enter heaven yourself, and leave your fellow creatures to do the best they can for themselves? Is there no moral work to be done before you enter on your promised rest? Is there no prodigal to reclaim, no aching heart to comfort? We must add labour to hope, and patience to faith. It is in this fashion that we prove the practical value of Christianity. Lessons: 1. Seek to be assured of your heirship. 2. Remember that you are under age. 3. Rise superior to your troubles. (J. Parker, D. D.)
(W. Arnot.)
(W. Arnot.)
(D. S. Brunton.)
1. By the help of ordinances; prayer, word, sacraments. 2. By the sacred influence and concurrence of the ,Spirit. 3. By Christ's daily intercession. II. BY WHAT ARGUMENTS MAY WE PROVE THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE? 1. "From the truth of God." God hath both asserted and promised it (1 John 2:9, 27; John 10:28; Jeremiah 32:40; Hebrews 2:19; Malachi 2:16). 2. From the power of God. 3. From God's electing love. 4. From believers' union with Christ. 5. From the nature of a purchase. Would Christ, think ye, have shed His blood that we might believe in Him for a while, and then fall away? 6. From a believer's "victory over the world." III. WHAT MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES ARE THERE TO MAKE CHRISTIANS PERSEVERE? 1. It is the crown and glory of a Christian to persevere. The excellency of a building is not in having the first stone laid, but when it is finished. The excellency of a Christian is, when he hath finished the work of faith. 2. You are within a few days' march of heaven. 3. How sad not to persevere in holiness! You expose yourselves to the reproaches of men and the rebukes of God. 4. The promises of mercy are annexed only to perseverance (Revelation 3:5; Luke 22:28). IV. WHAT EXPEDIENTS OR MEANS MAY BE USED FOR A CHRISTIAN'S PERSEVERANCE? 1. Take heed of those things which will make you fall away. (1) (2) (3) 2. If you would persevere in sanctity — (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (T. Watson.)
I. What are we kept BY? The Divine strength is as a fortress, protecting our weakness, and we lie safe in the hollow of that great sphere like some weaponless creature in its shell. We are imbedded, surrounded, over-arched above, and under-propped, and guarded on either side, and therefore we lie secure. The weakest of us can get behind that great shelter of the power of God. The fortress defends us, if we abide in it, from sin that would wreck our souls, but it does not shelter us, though we abide in it, from sorrows and all the ills and wearinesses and toils that flesh has to encounter, not because it is flesh, but because God is good. We are kept from the evil that is in the evil. The very exposure to the one often becomes the defence from the other. Then let us remember, too, that this power in which we are kept is a power which keeps us by itself being in us. So Paul speaks about being strengthened within with "a Divine might." We are kept in God when God is kept in us. II. What are we kept THROUGH? Faith is the condition, but it is no more than the condition. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it," and is safe. And so one of the Hebrew words which expresses "trust" or "faith," literally rendered, means to flee to a refuge. That figure sets forth picturesquely the nature and effects of faith. We are in the shelter of the enclosing walls, when by faith we enter into them. When we "trust in the Lord" we "have a strong city," and "salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks." Faith is conscious need. Faith is humble dependence. Faith is brave confidence. And if we go into our daily conflicts with the world and the flesh and the devil, wanting either of these three things, we want an indispensable link between our weakness and God's strength, and therefore want a necessary condition for the influx of His power which brings the victory. III. What are we kept rob? It is salvation in its rudimentary state here, it is salvation in its loftiest development yonder. All the crystals of one mineral have precisely the same angles and the same facets and planes, whether they be so small that it takes a strong microscope to see them, or large as basalt pillars of a Giant's Causeway. The little salvation here and the giant salvation of the heavens are one and the same thing, and the difference is wholly one of degree. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
(J. W. Reeve, M. A.)
1. God hides His people (Psalm 27:5; Colossians 3:3). 2. God guards His people. II. WE ARE KEPT UP. A corpse might be kept safe, but it would only be preserved corruption. Let us remember that He who keeps our spiritual life secure from outward attack, also keeps it from internal decay. With perpetual preservation there is continual renovation. III. WE ARE KEPT BACK. He who knows anything of the tendencies of his heart praises God as much for restraining as sustaining grace. IV. WE ARE KEPT ON. If ye are found still running with patience give glory to Him unto whom alone it belongs. V. WE ARE KEPT THROUGH. There is as much need for us to be taught how to bear with equanimity, as how to serve with unceasing zeal. We are kept through faith's trial as well as in faith's service. VI. WE ARE KEPT CLEAN. We who are kept safe in our title are kept meet in our persons for the coming glory. VII. WE ARE KEPT IN ORDER. The grace that saves places us in Christ's school house for instruction. VIII. WE ARE KEPT ALWAYS. The keeping of the text extends unto "the last time." We are kept "unto the end." What is there before us? Well, there is sickness for sure. But the promise is, "He," that is the Lord, "will make his bed in his sickness." Beyond sickness stands grim death, but that has lost all power to sting. Beyond death there yawns an open grave. But here the Lord's keeping shines forth most magnificently. Yes, kept for the resurrection morning. Kept by invincible might for reunion with the glorified spirit. Nothing short of eternal keeping becomes the ever-living God, or meets the requirements of our immortal souls. IX. WE ARE KEPT FOR A PUBLIC EXHIBITION (Ephesians 2:7). (A. G. Brown.)
(E. A. Stuart, M. A.)
(T. G. Selby.)
II. AN INTERESTING FACT. "Ready to be revealed." What is implied here? 1. Concealment partial or entire for the present. 2. Preparation. 3. Completeness. III. AN IMPORTANT CRISIS. "The last time." (Essex Remembrancer.)
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
(J. C. Jones, D. D.)
(W. Arnot.)
II. If we mark what days these last days are we may also note THAT GOD DOTH HIS BEST WORKS WHEN MEN DO THEIR WORST. For of these last days it is that the apostle speaks, that they should be wicked and perilous days, and this we should learn of God also, to let our piety and patience then shine most. III. THERE IS A TIME WHEN GOD WILL AT ONCE FULLY DELIVER AND SAVE HIS SERVANTS, and judge for them, and therefore we should no be weary of well-doing. IV. GOD'S SERVANTS MUST NOT THINK TO BE FULLY DELIVERED TILL THESE LAST TIMES, and therefore they must walk circumspectly, and always stand upon their guard. V. IT IS THE WILL OF GOD THAT THE DAY OF JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT BE KNOWN TO ANY MAN OR ANGEL FOR THE MOMENT OF IT, and therefore it is here described by ages, not by days and hours, which may confute curiosity, and teach us to watch at all times. VI. THE WORLD SHALL HAVE AN END, THERE IS A LAST TIME, and therefore woe is to them that so greedily mind transitory things, and that place all their happiness in the things of this life. (N. Byfield.)
1. It is present joy. God's service is gladsome even now (1 Peter 1:8; Philippians 4:4). Nor is this joy for advanced believers only, but for all true-hearted seekers after God (Psalm 105:3). 2. It is great joy (Psalm 68:3). 3. There are many sources of the Christian's great joy, but the particular one here mentioned is the present happiness afforded by a believing expectation of the joys laid up for him in eternity. 4. There are important reasons why we all ought to be joyful Christians.(1) It is our privilege as Christians. When we may be so much happier than we are, what folly not to exercise our right!(2) Our influence for good over others depends greatly upon the apparent result which religion produces in our own case.(3) Very much of our own stability as Christians depends upon our joyfulness (Nehemiah 8:10). II. THE CHRISTIAN'S TRIAL. There is nothing whatever unchequered here below — no joy without sorrow, no sunshine without shadow, no harmony unmixed with discord, Life is like an April day. 1. "Ye are in heaviness" — pressed down, forced to the earth, as if under some cruel load. The Christian's joy is from heaven, his grief from earth. These two are ever at war with one another. 2. "Ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations." Persecutions abounded. The devil aimed his fiery darts at them. The world spread its allurements for them. 3. Yet this state of trial has its alleviations.(1) It is only "for a season," whereas the Christian's joy endures forever (Psalm 30:5; 2 Corinthians 4:17).(2) It is only "if need be" — if there is a necessity, if some good can be effected by it. III. THE UNION OF JOY AND TRIAL IN THE CHRISTIAN'S EARTHLY LOT. Does the text teach that times of trial are destroyers of the Christian's joy, even for a season? On the contrary, St. Peter speaks of the "heaviness" only to give us a more exalted idea of the mighty power of the "joy." "Ye greatly rejoice, though ye are in heaviness"; your hearts remain glad in spite of your trials. Clouds come, but the sun breaks through them and goes on shining still. Obstacles arise, but the bright river of the Christian's peace flows past and over them, deep and glad as before. The one great peculiarity of the Christian's joy is its comparative independence of outward circumstances — nay, its triumph over them. Worldly men can rejoice when all is prosperous. If, therefore, the Christian's joy vanished at the approach of sorrow, men might well ask wherein the Christian differed from others? (J. Henry Burn, B. D.)
1. Its greatness. "Wherein ye greatly rejoice." There are only three things really great in the universe — God and the soul and eternity, and as religion has to do with them all its dealings have something superior in them all. 2. Its ground. (1) (2) II. THE CHRISTIAN'S GRIEF. 1. The nature of the Christian's sufferings. 2. The number. 3. Their influence. 4. Their expediency. 5. Their duration. (W. Jay.)
1. If we were not in heaviness during our troubles we should not be like our Covenant Head — Christ Jesus. 2. If we did not suffer heaviness we would begin to grow too proud, and become too great in our own esteem. 3. In heaviness we often learn lessons that we never could attain elsewhere. "Ah!" said Luther, "affliction is the best book in my library," and let me add the best leaf in the book of affliction is that blackest of all the leaves, the leaf called heaviness, when the spirit sinks within us, and we cannot endure as we could wish. 4. This heaviness is of essential use to a Christian if he would do good to others. Who shall speak to those whose hearts are broken but those whose hearts have been broken also? II. HIS REJOICING. Mariners tell us that there are some parts of the sea where there is a strong current upon the surface going one way, but that down in the depths there is a strong current running the other way. Two seas do not meet and interfere with one another, but one stream of water on the surface is running in one direction, and another below in an opposite direction. Now the Christian is like that. On the surface there is a stream of heaviness rolling with dark waves, but down in the depths there is a strong undercurrent of great rejoicing that is always flowing there. The apostle is writing "to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus." 1. The first thing that he says to them is, that they are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God," "wherein we greatly rejoice." Ah! even when the Christian is most "in heaviness through manifold temptations," what a mercy it is that he can know that he is still elect of God! 2. The apostle says that we are "elect through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" — "wherein we greatly rejoice." Is the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ girt about my loins, to be my beauty; and is the blood of Jesus sprinkled upon me to take away all my guilt and all my sin, and shall I not in this greatly rejoice? 3. But the great and cheering comfort of the apostle is, that we are elect unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us. And here is the grand comfort of the Christian. 4. There is one more doctrine that will always cheer a Christian, this perhaps is the one chiefly intended here in the text. "Reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." This will be one of the greatest cordials to a Christian in heaviness, that he is not kept by his own power, but by the power of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
(J. Lillie, D. D.)
(F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
(J. Trapp.)
(H. W. Beecher.)
(J. Trapp.)
(J. P. Lunge.)
2. To keep them from sin, being therefore compared to a hedge of thorns (Hosea 2:6; Job 33:17; 2 Chronicles 20:37). 3. To humble them. We have a proud nature, and while in health we think our heads half touch the clouds; therefore God pulls us down by troubles. 4. To make them more holy, to scourge off the rust, purge out some of the remnant of the old man, and renew the inner man (Isaiah 4:4; Hebrews 12:10; Isaiah 27:9). 5. To wean them from the world, to which even the best are too much addicted, and to make them willing to die and to be gone hence, so setting them on work to look after and make sure of a better inheritance. 6. To prove the devil a liar (Job 1:9). 7. To keep them from hell and condemnation. 8. To bring them to heaven. (John Rogers.)
II. The disciplinary elements are VERY PAINFUL. "Ye are in heaviness." Or, as Dr. Davidson renders it, "made sorrowful." "Heaviness" is a relative term. What is heavy to one would be light to another. Paul gloried in tribulation. III. The disciplinary elements are ONLY TEMPORARY. "Now for a season." 1. The trials of life are short compared with the enjoyments of life. They are exceptional. 2. The trials of life are short compared with the blessedness of the future. IV. The disciplinary elements are VERY NECESSARY. "If need be." As storms in nature are necessary to purify the air, so trials are necessary to cleanse the atmosphere around the soul. V. The disciplinary elements are ALWAYS BENEFICENT. "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth." Nothing is more important to man than that it should be genuine. (Homilist.)
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
(W. Swinnock.)
(J. Spencer.)
1. They are manifold in their nature. What a world of change and sorrow we live in t 2. They are difficult to bear; for they cause heaviness or depression of mind (Hebrews 10:32). If you are in heaviness bear it manfully, but do not show it openly. Speak of your troubles to your bosom friend, but do not talk of them to men of this world. Above all, tell them to Jesus. 3. They are temporary. The longest trials, and those which leave the deepest wounds, are but for a season. 4. They are necessary. "If need be." Oh, there is "a needs be" for every stroke, and though we do not now understand why this trial or the other falls upon us, yet we shall know hereafter. II. THE END AND AIM of these temptations must be carefully observed. "They are for the trial of our faith." 1. The value of faith cannot be overestimated. Gold perishes, but faith lives — lives in death, and far beyond it (1 Corinthians 13:13). 2. But it must be tried, and sometimes in a very severe furnace. It is proved, tested, or verified by trial, and the faith which cannot stand the ordeal is of little or no value (Job 23:10). There are many ways in which faith is tried.(1) It is tried by Divine commands. God gives His servants some difficult task to perform. True faith will surmount all difficulties.(2) Faith is often tried by doubts.(3) And faith is tried by fire — the fire of discipline, of persecution, of protracted bodily affliction. 3. The ultimate design of the trial is that it may "be found," nothing of it being lost, "unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ." (Thornley Smith.)
1. From the use of the word that describes the process — "temptation." 2. From the fact that those who are being tested are often possessed with "heaviness," "grief." 3. From the nature of the elements employed in the process. (1) (2) II. THE PROCESS OF TESTING A MAN'S FAITH IS OF SUCH SUPREME WORTH AS TO COMPENSATE FOR ALL SUCH PAIN. 1. The testing is only temporary. 2. The worth of the soul is tested. 3. The purpose of the process. (1) (2) (3) (4) (U. R. Thomas.)
2. To try whether our faith be as much as we take it to be or more; this, affliction will discover. 3. To purge and purify that true faith which we have, and increase it. (John Rogers.)
(H. S. Brown.)
I. The first thing to be thought when we have any trial, is THAT IT COMES FROM GOD. It is not a proof of any special wickedness in the person to whom it is sent, nor of God's being specially angry with that person. Quite the contrary. God feels towards each of you the very same tender fatherly love that you feel to your dear boy; and so He corrects you as you correct that boy. And just as you take the trouble to prune and attend to the fruit tree which bears well, in the hope that it will bear still better, so God sends trouble to them who are doing good, in the hope that they will do still better. In all troubles, then, look to God — receive them from Him as the best things which your loving Father can send you. II. Think, next, WHAT ARE THEY SENT FOR? They are punishments for sins, that is true; but see the wonderful goodness of God: these punishments His love turns into mercies and blessings. What does He send them for? 1. To remind us of our sins; to make us remember our sins, that through His mercy we may repent of them. 2. To draw our thoughts towards Himself. "In their affliction they will seek Me early." 3. They are called trials — that means things which try. What do they try? They try us, whether we can trust God when matters seem to be going wrong. 4. To make us patient. Patience is that great gift which most especially helps to make us perfect Christians. "Let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." When we quietly give up our way to others — when we are disappointed and do not fret — when we ourselves have sharp pains to bear and we do not repine — then we are learning to become more perfect Christians — then we are becoming holier — we are really growing into what God intends us to be. III. THEY LEAD US ON TO THE CROWN. To conclude. 1. Try to think in this way of all troubles whatsoever, of all the little vexations of life, as well as of the heavier afflictions which come more seldom. 2. Look on continually to the end — the end of all things — heaven and eternity! This will encourage you to bear what now seems so painful. The hope of what is coming will cheer you up. 3. And especially look continually to Jesus Christ, and the example He has set us. Look to Him continually, "lest you be weary and faint in your minds." (W. H. Ridley, M. A.)
1. Poverty is a great temptation — a temptation which throws many "into heaviness." 2. But again, the temptations of the rich lie in another direction. 3. The heaviness which sometimes arises from the oppression and power of sin. 4. And some persons are in heaviness — they themselves know not why. None are more to be sorrowed with. There seems to be no known cause — and yet they are in lowness of spirits, and weary of the world. (J. M. Chanter, M. A.)
1. But this fire is a refiner's fire (Malachi 3:3).(1) It is He who permits the trial. The evil thing may originate in the malignity of a Judas, but by the time it reaches us it has become the cup which our Father has given us to drink. The waster may purpose his own lawless and destructive work, but he cannot go an inch beyond the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. The very devil must ask permission ere he touches a hair of the patriarch's head. The point up to which we may be tested is fixed by consummate wisdom. The weapon may hurt and the fire sting, but they are in the hands which redeemed us.(2) It is He who superintends the trial. No earthly friend may be near, but in every furnace there is One like the Son of Man.(3) It is He who watches the progress of the trial. No mother bending over her suffering child is more solicitous than He is. Suiting the trial to your strength. 2. Trial is only for a season. "Now for a season ye are in heaviness." The great Husbandman is net always threshing. The showers soon pass. Our light affliction is but for a moment. 3. Trial is for a purpose. "If needs be." There is utility in every trial. It is intended to reveal the secrets of our hearts, to humble and prove us, to winnow us as corn is shaken in a sieve, to detach us from the earthly and visible, to create in us an eager desire for the realities which can alone quench our cravings and endure forever. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
1. On the one hand, they show us the evil that is in us. More evil dwells in the heart than we have ever realised. "I never before could believe," exclaims the afflicted man, "that so many hard thoughts of God were nestling in my brain, and so many rebellious passions lodging in my heart." God sends trouble to bring out and make palpable that which is latent. 2. Not only so, but afflictions further serve to evoke our good, to lead forth into visibility the faith, the hope, and the charity God in His loving kindness has infused into our souls. Certain things will not disclose what is in them save under pressure. Aromatic herbs will not diffuse their aroma till they are bruised. II. TEMPTATIONS OR TRIALS STRENGTHEN FAITH. 1. Bitters are the best tonic for the spiritual man as for the physical. All who are a little acquainted with gardening operations know how careful the gardener is to lop off all redundant growths which genial weather calls forth, growths which he significantly calls "suckers," because they drain away the sap which would otherwise go to form fruit. On just the same principle the Divine Husbandman treats the "Trees of Righteousness" growing in His vineyard — He mercilessly lops off the worldly "suckers" which steal away the juice, the fatness, of your religion, and thereby drives the whole energy of your spirit back upon your faith. 2. Sorrows further invigorate faith, because they call it into frequent, yea, constant exercise. And it is an universally admitted truth that all our natural faculties and spiritual graces grow in exercise. To be a robust Christian you must battle with difficulties. III. TEMPTATIONS OR TRIALS PURIFY FAITH. 1. They release it from the impurities which attach to it. Religion in this world lives among pots, and, as might be expected, it does not quite escape "the corruption that is in the world through lust." And God in His wisdom judges it expedient to cast it into the sea; but, as Leighton quaintly remarks, He does it "not to drown it, but to wash it." But this process of separation is not an easy one, pleasant to flesh and blood; rather it requires the penetrating action of the flame. 2. Adversity, moreover, throws faith more upon its own proper resources, making it draw its aliment and inspiration more directly from God as revealed in His Book. IV. TEMPTATIONS OR TRIALS BEAUTIFY FAITH. 1. Trials evolve the latent beauty of faith. Faith is intrinsically a beautiful grace, but to disclose its beauty it must often undergo the severe operations of chisel and hammer. 2. But it is also true that sorrows impart beauty to faith, a kind of weird-like fascination that makes it, in its struggle with obstacles, a "spectacle worthy of the gods." God throws the Christian into "many-coloured" afflictions that he may be thereby adorned and made meet to enter the society of heaven. He makes His Church a coat of many colours to show His love to her and appreciation of her. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
1. Even considered intellectually, as a mere belief of revealed truth, faith is of the highest possible value, as the great instrument by which we obtain religious knowledge and wisdom. 2. But its value — as it is not merely an intellectual exercise, but an act of trust, and thus a work of the heart — is shown by this, that it connects us immediately and personally with the merits of the great Atonement. 3. The value of faith is seen in this, that it not only connects man, as guilty, with the meritorious atonement of the Saviour, but man, as weak and helpless, with the omnipotence of Divine grace. 4. Another proof of the value of faith is found in that wonderful property which the Apostle Paul assigns to it, and which, indeed, we find by actual experience that it possesses — the property of fixing its eye on invisible and eternal realities, and keeping the soul continually under their influence. II. THE TRIAL OF FAITH. 1. In its lower sense — merely considered as belief of truth — faith will be tried. This may occur in many circumstances, and especially from infidel sophistry. 2. But our faith will not only be tried by sophistry; it will be tried also by what may be termed practical unbelief. This is especially the ease in all temptations to sin. 3. Faith, in that higher sense in which the word is used — as implying a simple trust in the atonement of the Saviour — will be tried by our proneness to self-dependence. 4. Faith is also tried by afflictions and sorrows. In sorrows our faith has to repose entirely on the great doctrine that all that concerns us is in the hands of God, that here there is no chance, no oversight, no delegation of the Divine power to the creature. III. THE FINAL HONOURS OF FAITH. It has, indeed, its honours now, far greater than any of which unbelief can boast. Is it not that which brings man to God for the blessings of reconciliation and adoption? Is it not that which brings with it the mighty influence of that Holy Spirit which works in man the death unto sin and the new life unto righteousness? Is it not that which is the source of our spiritual victories, which gives us strength to do and strength to suffer? Is it not that which enables us to resist the temptations with which the present world continually surrounds us? And is it not that which extracts the sting of death? Such are the honours of faith here on earth. Where shall we look for those of formality and unbelief? But the apostle refers to its future honours, to the praise and glory in which our faith shall issue at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then shall the faith which has received the mysteries of God be honoured. (R. Watson.)
1. Gold is of an earthly, but faith of a heavenly origin. 2. Faith has its object, as well as its origin, in God; whereas gold, unless placed in the hands of him who has the new nature, tends to the place whence it came, and is often also in the child of God the means of dragging hint too much to earth. 3. Faith always enriches the possessor, but gold often impoverishes. II. THIS FAITH MUST BE TRIED, AND THAT WITH FIRE. 1. The world is a great trial to faith. 2. Satan is always attempting to try and to overstep the faith of God's people. III. WHAT IS THE GREAT END AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH FAITH IS SO TRIED? It is that it may be proved to be faith, just as the gold is tried in the fire. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)
1. Faith, in the very nature of it, implies a degree of trial. God never gave us faith to play with. It is a sword, but it was not made for presentation on a gala day, nor to be worn on state occasions only, nor to be exhibited on a parade ground. It is a sword, and he that has it girt about him may expect, between here and heaven, that he shall know what battle means. Faith is a sound sea-going vessel, and was not meant to lie in dock and perish of dry rot. To whom God has given faith, it is as though one gave a lantern to his friend because he expected it to be dark on his way home. The very gift of faith is a hint to you that you will want it, and that, at all points and in every place, you will really need it. 2. Trial is the very element of faith. Faith is a salamander that lives in the fire, a star which moves in a lofty sphere, a diamond which bores its way through the rock. Faith without trial is like a diamond uncut, the brilliance of which has never been seen. Untried faith is such little faith that some have thought it no faith at all. What a fish would be without water or a bird without air, that would be faith without trial. 3. It is the honour of faith to be tried. He that has tested God, and whom God has tested, is the man that shall have it said of him, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." 4. The trial of your faith is sent to prove its sincerity. 5. It must also be tested to prove its strength. 6. The trial of our faith is necessary to remove its dross. "Why, a week ago," says one, "I used to sing, and think that I had the full assurance of faith; and now I can scarcely tell whether I am one of God's people or not." Now you know how much faith you really possess. You can now tell how much was solid and how much was sham; for had that which has failed you been real faith, it would not have been consumed by any trial through which it has passed. You have lost the froth from the top of the cup, but all that was really worth having is still there. II. YOUR FAITH WILL BE TRIED VARIOUSLY. 1. There are some whose faith is tried each day in their communion with God. That is, God in Christ, who is our God, is a consuming fire; and when His people live in Him, the very presence of God consumes in them their love of sin and all their pretentious graces and fictitious attainments, so that the false disappears and only the true survives. The presence of perfect holiness is killing to empty boastings and hollow pretences. 2. God frequently tries us by the blessings which He sends us. (1) (2) 3. Another trial of faith is exceedingly common and perilous nowadays, and that is heretical doctrine and false teaching. 4. The trial of our faith usually comes in the form of affliction. I remember Mr. Rutherford, writing to a lady who had lost five children and her husband, says to her, "Oh, how Christ must love you! He would take every bit of your heart to Himself. He would not permit you to reserve any of your soul for any earthly thing." Can we stand that test? Can we let all go for His sake? Do you answer that you can? Time will show. III. YOUR FAITH WILL BE TRIED INDIVIDUALLY. It is an interesting subject, is it not, the trial of faith? It is not quite so pleasant to study alone the trial of your faith. It is stern work when it comes to be your trial, and the trial of your faith. Do not ask for trials. Children must not ask to be whipped, nor saints pray to be tested. The Lord Jesus Christ has been glorified by the trial of His people's faith. He has to be glorified by the trial of your faith. IV. YOUR FAITH WILL BE TRIED SEARCHINGLY. The blows of the flail of tribulation are not given in sport, but in awful earnest. The Lord tries the very life of our faith — not its beauty and its strength alone, but its very existence. The iron enters into the soul; the man's real self is made to endure the trial. V. YOUR FAITH WILL BE TRIED FOR AN ABUNDANTLY USEFUL PURPOSE. 1. The trial of your faith will increase, develop, deepen, and strengthen it. We may wisely rejoice in tribulation, because it worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope; and by that way we are exceedingly enriched, and our faith grows strong. 2. The trial of our faith is useful, because it leads to a discovery of our faith to ourselves. I notice an old Puritan using this illustration. He says, you shaft go into a wood when you please, but if you are very quiet, you will not know whether there is a partridge, or a pheasant, or a rabbit in it; but when you begin to move about or make a noise, you very soon see the living creatures. They rise or they run. So, when affliction comes into the soul, and makes a disturbance and breaks our peace, up rise our graces. Faith comes out of its hiding, and love leaps from its secret place. 3. Besides, when faith is tried, it brings God glory. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
(W. Arnot.)
(M. Henry.)
(Jonathan Edwards.)
(J. C. Jones, D. D.)
2. Faith is more rare, termed therefore the faith of God's elect, whereas most, even of the wicked, are not without gold. 3. Faith cannot be purchased with all the gold in the world. 4. It is hardly gotten and hardly kept, and has many and strong enemies — our own nature, the world and the devil are all against faith, but not against getting of gold. 5. It apprehends salvation and life eternal, and so is the instrument of our happiness. So is not gold but the instrument of many a man's damnation; by unconscionable getting, and covetous keeping the same, many cast away their souls. 6. It will comfort a man with true comfort in his life, carry him strongly through troubles, and boldly through the gates of death. 7. Gold perisheth, here canker and rust consume it; we may be taken from it, as it from us; but faith endureth till Christ's appearing, to our full redemption, as the fruit thereof forever.Uses: 1. To them that want gold, and yet have faith. Know that thou art richer than he that hath thousands of gold and hath not faith. 2. To the rich. Rejoice not that thou art rich, but that thou hast faith. Again, think all your pains to become you well, and well bestowed in getting this precious faith. 3. To those who have not faith. Poor souls, labour after it, that you may be made inwardly rich. 4. To rich men who have toiled for gold. Seek this that is so much better. (John Rogers.)
II. Gold cannot STRENGTHEN the soul. Genuine faith does. In what does the strength of the soul consist? In force of sympathies generous and devout; force of determination to pursue the right; force to bear up with buoyant magnanimity under all the trials and sorrows of life. Gold cannot give this strength. How strong were the men mentioned in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews! III. Gold cannot ENNOBLE the soul. But genuine faith ennobles the soul, enthrones it above the tide of passion and the force of circumstances. (Homilist.)
I. THAT OUR TRUE TREASURES ARE ALL CONTAINED IN, AND CLUSTERED ROUND, THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS CHRIST. Now, in order to estimate the value of a thing, the first necessity is a correct standard. Now, if we are seeking for a standard of value, surely the following points are very plain. Our true treasure mast be such as helps us towards the highest ends for which we are fitted by our make. It must be such as satisfies our deepest needs; it must be such as meets our whole nature; and it must be such as cannot be wrenched from us. I do not want to undervalue lower and relative good of any kind, or to preach an overstrained contempt of material, transient, and partial blessing. Competence and wealth, gold and what gold buys, and what it keeps away, are good. High above them we rank the treasures of a cultivated mind, of a refined taste, of eyes that see the beauty of God's fair creation. Above these we rank the priceless treasures of pure reciprocated human love. But none of them, nor all of them put together, meet our tests, simple and obvious as they are. They do not satisfy the whole, or the depths, of our natures. Only God can fill a soul. So Peter is right after all, when he points us in a wholly different direction for the true precious things. "Christ is precious." Now, the word that he employs there is slightly different from that which occurs in the other verses. The speaker in the original words of the prophet is God Himself. It is the preciousness in God's sight of the stone which He "lays in Zion" that is glanced at in the epithet. Let me suggest how the preciousness of His beloved Son, in the eyes of the Father who gave Him, enhances the preciousness of the gift to us. God obeys the law which He lays upon His servants; and He "will not give" to us "that which costs Him nothing." But Christ is precious to us. Yes, if we know ourselves and what we want; if we know Him and what He gives. Do you want wisdom? He is the wisdom of God. Do you seek power? He is the power of God. Do you long for joy? He will give you His own. Do you weary for peace? "My peace I leave with you." Do you hunger for righteousness? "He of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness." Do you need fulness and abundance? "In Him dwells all the fulness of God; and of His fulness have all we received." Whatever good any soul seeks, Christ is the highest good, and is all good. Let us turn our hearts away from false treasures and lay hold on Him who is the true riches. Further, Christ's blood is precious. Peter believed in Christ's atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, and of each single soul therein. If you strike that element out of the work of our Lord, what remains, precious as it is, does not seem to me to so completely satisfy human necessities as to make Him the one all-sufficient and single treasure and riches of men's souls. And then there is the third precious thing, clustering round and flowing from Jesus Christ and His work — and that is, the "exceeding great and precious promises," which are given to us "that by them we may be partakers of a Divine nature." I presume that these promises referred to by the apostle are largely, if not exclusively, those which have reference to what we call the future state. And they are precious because they come straight to meet one of the deepest needs of humanity, often neglected, but always there — an ache, if not a conscious need. What about that dark, dim beyond? Is there any solid ground in it? Christ comes with the answer: "I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Then it is not mist; then I can fling my grappling-iron into it and it will hold, and I can hold on to it. II. THAT WHICH PUTS US IN POSSESSION OF THE PRECIOUS THINGS IS ITSELF PRECIOUS. So the apostle speaks, in his second Epistle, about "like precious faith," using a compound word, which, however, is substantially identical with the simple expression in the other verses. The only preciousness of that faith which the New Testament magnifies so greatly is that it brings us into possession of the things that are intrinsically precious. Suppose a door, worth half a crown. Yes! but it is the door of a storehouse full of bullion. Here is a bit of lead pipe, worth twopence. Yes, but through it comes the water that keeps a besieged city alive. And so your faith, worth nothing in itself, is worth everything as the means by which you lay hold of the durable riches and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Therefore cherish it. A cultivated mind is a treasure, because it is the key to many treasures. Refined tastes are treasures because they bring us into possession of lofty gifts. AEsthetic sensibilities are precious because they make our own a pure and ennobling pleasure. And, for precisely the same reason, high above the cultivated understanding, and refined tastes, and the artistic sense, ay, and even above the loving heart that twines its tendrils round another heart as loving, we rank the faith which joins us to Christ. III. THE PROCESS WHICH STRENGTHENS THAT FAITH IS PRECIOUS. My nominal text speaks about "the trial of your faith" as being "much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire." Peter meant that the process by which faith was tested, and, being tested, is purified and perfected, is a precious treasure. If Christ and what pertains to Him are our real wealth, and if our faith is the means of our coming into possession of our property, then everything that tightens our grasp upon Him, and increases our capacity of receiving Him, is valuable. Let us lay that to heart, and it changes all our estimates of this world's mistaken ill and good. Let us lay that to heart, and it interprets much. We do not understand life until we have got rid of the prejudice that enjoyment, or any lower thing, is the object of it. Let us understand that the deepest meaning of all our experience here is discipline, and we have come within sight of the solution of most of our perplexities. Sorrow and joy, light and darkness, summer and winter, sunshine and storm, life and death, gain and loss, failures and successes — they all have the one end, that we may be partakers of the wealth of His holiness. Let us try to clear our minds of the delusions of this world, and to rectify our estimates of true good. A very perverted standard prevails, and we are too apt to fall in with it. Many of us are no wiser than savages that will exchange gold for trash, and barter away fertile lands for a stand of old muskets or a case of fiery rum. Listen to Jesus Christ counselling you to buy of Him gold tried in the fire. Turn away from the fairy gold, which by daylight will be seen to be but a heap of yellow fading leaves, and cling in faith, which is precious, to Him who is priceless, and in whom the poorest will find riches that cannot be corrupted nor lost forever. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
(R. W Dale, LL. D.)
I. THE PROPERTIES OF THIS LOVE. 1. It is sincere and hearty. We must not judge by one single act in life, but by the habitual frame and the general tenor in behaviour. A real concern of mind for offending a friend is a sign that we esteem him. 2. It has respect unto Christ in all His characters and titles. 3. This love is superlative. It exceeds the esteem which the soul has for all other things. Christ will accept of nothing less. 4. This love is constant and everlasting. It is not like the esteem which we have for our fellow creatures, which frequently stops upon receiving an affront, and is often changed into resentment. II. THE GROUNDS AND REASONS why the Christian loves an unseen Jesus. 1. The Christian loves an unseen Jesus because of the excellencies which He possesses, Whatever excellency is in the creature may be found in the highest perfection in Jesus Christ, for He inherits all true perfection: creatures' glories are all imperfect. 2. The Christian loves an unseen Saviour because of the relation which He stands in to him. The ties of nature and relation are strong inducements to affection; a mother must turn monster if she does not love her babe. 3. The Christian is under the greatest obligations to Jesus for the wonders of His free and unmerited love: no wonder, then, that he loves Him, though unseen. III. THE REASONABLENESS of the Christian's love to an unseen Saviour. 1. Let us view the infinite glory of His person. 2. The amazing greatness of His condescension for His people's advantage. 3. The blessings which He has conferred upon the Christian, 4. The endearing titles He has given him. 5. The care He continually takes of him, and the glory He has prepared and will secure for him. 6. The freeness of this love. (S. Hayward.)
II. ALTHOUGH THESE CHRISTIANS HAD NEVER SEEN CHRIST, THEY, NEVERTHELESS, LOVED HIM. It is possible to love those whom we have never seen. The experience is felt every day. For example — 1. Men love unseen benefactors, and it becomes us to love the unseen Saviour — the greatest Benefactor of all. When the emancipation of the West Indian slaves became an accomplished fact, the liberated them in their humble dwellings loved the men who had done so much for them, and suffered so much for them. They had never seen them, and yet they loved them. 2. But let us introduce another element into the claims of the ascended Christ, and consider that He is also a brother unseen. It sometimes happens that an unseen benefactor is also an unseen brother. I knew a family in this city, the elder brother in which had gone out to an Indian appointment before the younger members of it were born. Their father died before he could be called an old man, leaving a widow and large family without great resources. But this elder brother did a father's part. He sent home remittances quite regularly, which maintained, clothed, and educated the younger children, and, as the daughters grew up, and were, one after another, married, he sent them special presents for their marriage outfits. Oh, how they loved him, although they had never seen him! Does not my parable once more suit? Is not this Jesus whom we have never seen occupied in high heavenly administration? 3. Further, the believer loves Christ, though he has never seen Him, on account of His beauty. We sometimes fall in love with the character of men whom we have never seen. III. THOUGH BELIEVERS NEVER SAW CHRIST, THEY REJOICE IN HIM WITH JOY UNSPEAKABLE AND FULL OF GLORY. A doubtsome faith, leaving a man uncertain as to whether he is saved or not, is not countenanced in the Word of God. Further, the New Testament does not discourage ecstasy in religious experience. It expects "joy unspeakable" in the heart of the Christian. And if we see men and women in tumultuous joy, making processions and waving banners in honour of Bruce and Wallace, Tell and Garibaldi, whom they never saw, have we not infinitely greater cause to rejoice in present salvation and the hope of future glory through an unseen Christ? When the foreman of the jury says "Not guilty," the prisoner leaps up in the dock with joy unspeakable. When the physician, feeling the pulse, says to the anxious patient: "Your symptoms are much improved today; in fact, you are out of danger, and will henceforth progress to complete recovery," his joy is unspeakable. Now, what is holiness but wholeness in health? — the great blessing which we receive at the Cross, the salvation of the soul, the pardon of sin and the accompanying indwelling and renewal of the Holy Ghost. But the best is coming yet; the joy is also "full of glory." We are down in the valley; but the hilltops are already radiant with the rising orb of eternal day. Beyond these hills our Redeemer is preparing a place for us. In conclusion, let me speak first a word of caution, and then a word of encouragement. 1. The word of caution I address to those who may be ready to proclaim their love to Christ and their assurance of salvation while yet their lives are unholy. Not only must Christ have the throne of our affections, but also the government of our wills freely and habitually surrendered — wills married to His and sweetly lost in His. 2. Such is the word of caution; now for the word of encouragement. How many worthy people are there who, when we ask them whether they love the Lord, or not, are unable to answer in the affirmative. Restricted views of the extent of Divine grace keep some in darkness, while others are the victims of hypochondriacal spiritual or rather unspiritual melancholy. As to the first cause of fear I would simply say that there is no doubt of God's love to you, and therefore you should love Him in return. As to your morbid anxieties, I would exhort you to dismiss them all. Do not go about constantly feeling your own spiritual pulse. The best proof of your love to God is that you keep His commandments. (F. Ferguson, D. D.)
1. Love to the Redeemer is the first movement of the soul when illumined to discern the perfect excellencies of His Divine character. Is perfect holiness the proper object of delight and love? Are truth and faithfulness, combined with mercy and grace, the proper objects of moral approbation and delight? In Him "mercy and truth have met together." He is justly entitled to our supreme regard, whose nature is infinitely excellent, and whose perfections are boundless. 2. But the believer will not confine himself to the contemplation of his Lord in the attributes of His Divine character; he will consider Him in His human nature also, and, as such, the proper object of enlightened attachment. As a man He exhibited an example of perfect conformity to the whole will of God. 3. The mediatorial character of Jesus justly entitles Him to our especial affection. From what Christ hath done, we learn what He is; and the glories of His character shine with peculiar lustre through the veil of His mediation, suffering, and death. And can we contemplate so much love without feeling some corresponding emotion of love in return? II. CHRIST, THOUGH UNSEEN, IS THE OBJECT OF A CHRISTIAN'S LOVE. 1. Although Christ was never seen by us, yet we have been favoured with the most full and satisfactory information regarding Him. He is brought near to our view in the prophecies of the Old Testament, and in the varied writings of the New. 2. Jesus, though we never saw Him, is ascertained to be unquestionably our best friend and nearest relation. He is our instructor to point the way; our high priest to redeem and intercede for us; our Captain and King to bring many sons and daughters to glory. 3. He hath given us the most stupendous evidences of His disinterested love. 4. This kind friend hath sent us many kind messages of love, and hath actually left us a legacy to perpetuate His remembrance. 5. Though not personally present with us, He hath given us, as His representative, His Holy Spirit to abide with us forever, to enlighten our understandings, to purify our hearts from the power of corruption, to raise our affections to things spiritual and heavenly, to check in us the power of sin, and to guide us amid the snares and temptations of our pilgrimage through the world. 6. Though we see not Christ now, we are assured that if we love Him truly we shall see Him afterwards. III. THE MANNER IN WHICH LOVE TO CHRIST WILL PRACTICALLY EXPRESS ITSELF. 1. Love to Christ will lead us to cultivate a more intimate acquaintance with Him. 2. Love to Christ will lead us frequently to think and to speak of Him. 3. Love to Christ will lead us to seek intercourse with Him in all His ordinances. 4. If we love Christ, we will love His people and cause. 5. Finally, "If ye love Me," says Jesus, "keep My commandments." This is the most substantial test of the sincerity of our love. (R. Burns, D. D.)
II. THE OBJECT OF THE CHRISTIAN'S LOVE — the Lord Jesus Christ — with the grounds that are found with Him, of our loving Him. And here we might first observe how the many names, titles, and characters which Christ bears in Scripture, that convey various ideas of beauty, use, and pleasure, do of themselves recommend Him to our highest love. The particular grounds of love to Christ which His various names import and lead to. 1. If the greatest personal excellencies and beauties imaginable. 2. If the most intimate relation to God and His manifestative glory, joined with the highest interest in His favour and respect. 3. If the most amazing love to us. 4. If the most arduous and excellent works performed for our service and advantage. 5. If the most numerous, valuable, benefits conferred on us or promised to us. III. THE PARTICULAR ACTS AND EXPRESSIONS OF A GENUINE LOVE TO CHRIST. 1. In the first place, wherever love to Christ is found, it will certainly show itself in frequent thoughts, attended ever and anon with discourse of Him. And what thoughts are they which love to Christ will inspire? They are thoughts of a noble elevation and of a comprehensive reach — thoughts which dignify our understandings. Further, the thoughts influenced by the love of Christ will be with regard to ourselves, and other things viewed in comparison with Christ, humbling and disdaining. Again, the thoughts about Christ which love to Him prompts are the most chosen and pleasing thoughts of any that can employ the mind. Finally, the thoughts that love to Christ inspires are affectionate thoughts and influential into the heart from whence they are united. 2. Love to Christ will express itself in desires towards Him accompanied with suitable endeavours, and these of two sorts, such as respect ourselves immediately, or Christ for ourselves, and such as respect Him for Himself. IV. THE PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERS OF GENUINE LOVE TO CHRIST. True love to Christ is sincere and unfeigned, love incorrupt. 2. True love to Christ is a judicious and rational affection. Though Christians love an unseen, they do not love an unknown Saviour. 3. Love to Christ is free, as being the effect of rational choice; and yet more free still, as being a supernatural habit influenced by Divine grace. 4. True love to Christ is of a very active and fruitful nature. There is a great deal of life, strength, and sprightliness in the affection of love. 5. True love to Christ is entire and universal. He must be loved in His whole character, or He is not loved at all. 6. It must be supreme. 7. It is constant. 8. This love to Christ is great, so as to become unspeakable and full of glory. V. HOW FAITH ACCOUNTS FOR THIS LOVE IN WANT OF SIGHT, so that this should not in reason be any obstruction to, while yet it is a commendation of it. 1. Let us see how faith contains a just reason for loving Christ, though never seen. Than which nothing will appear more manifest, if we only consider what faith is, in these two parts wherein the apostle sums it up (Hebrews 11:1). 2. Want of seeing Christ, though no reasonable bar against loving Him, must be allowed to import some greater commendation of love under this circumstance than in the case of personal sight. VI. IMPROVEMENT. 1. How much should we be concerned to observe the too obvious want of love to Christ in the Christian world, and withal to inquire whether it be not wanting in our own hearts also! 2. Suffer the word of exhortation, to give to Christ all the love we are capable of, suitable to His glorious dignity, and the obligations He has laid on us, heartily and bitterly lamenting withal our sin and folly in having withheld from Him so long and so much what has been His due. (J. Hubbard.)
1. It appears difficult theoretically. 2. It is common in experience. The absent, the dead are loved. 3. It is an element in the highest form of love. The non-sensuous. 4. It is a very blessed emotion. The band of love brings the distant near, makes the remote easily discerned. II. TRUST IN THE LOVED. Love Christ more, and you will trust Him more. You will believe what He says about — 1. Salvation. 2. Duty. 3. Trial. 4. Sacrifice. III. JOY IN THE LOVED AND TRUSTED. 1. The joy of rest. 2. The joy of communion. (U. R. Thomas.)
(Bp. Alexander.)
1. First of all, there is the Divine truthfulness. I mean the inward harmony of the thought and feeling with God's law, with God's idea, with eternal and unchangeable facts. Stronger, by reason of this truthfulness, than the granite rock, more immovable than the mountains of Lebanon, He stands forth for God, and for God's law of right within Him. 2. But, then, this truthfulness led to purity; for purity is truth reduced to life; it is the embodying of what is right in one's own character. And you know how the Saviour did this. You know how He followed the right through evil and good report. There may, however, be all this, but in hard forms like the granite rock, glittering in the sun and standing out with its sharply defined, hard lines against the sky, exciting our wonder and admiration, but touching no chord of love in the heart. 3. And therefore there must be love — the gentleness and tenderness of a loving nature added on to and rising out of these. Annihilating self, it seeks to lavish the resources of its own life and blessedness on the world around. And I need not dwell upon the manifold forms in which this gentle and tender love manifested itself in Him who did not cry nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets — who brake not the bruised reed nor quenched the smoking flax. But then, I take it, that it is neither the truthfulness, the purity, nor the love which in itself and alone calls forth our love. But these qualities constitute, when existing together in their proper proportions, that wonderful thing which we call spiritual beauty — a thing we all recognise, according to our culture, when we meet with it, but which is so subtle as to defy our definition. Whilst theologians have been constructing their theories and doctrines about the Divine nature, and rival sects have been fighting for their individual shibboleths, the simple, loving souls of all churches have, out of the brief narratives of the Gospels, been idealising to themselves the Christ, and before the overpowering spiritual beauty which thus they have discerned in His character, have yielded their heart's strongest love and purest devotion. (James Cranbrook.)
(N. C. Locke, D. D.)
(A. M. Fairbairn, D. D.)
II. WHAT VIRTUE IS THIS WHICH FLOWS FROM HIM? 1. The first result of trusting and loving Christ is joy, and joy of a most remarkable kind. It is far above all common joy. It is spoken of as "joy unspeakable." Now earth-born joys can be told to the full. But spirit-born joys cannot be told because we have not yet received a spiritual language. I have seen men's faces lit up with heaven's sunlight when the joy of the Lord has been shed abroad in their hearts. The very people who a day ago looked dull and heavy look as if they could dance for mirth because they have found the Saviour, and their soul is at peace through Him. The apostle adds that it is "full of glory." Many sensual joys are full of shame — a man with a conscience dares not tell them to his fellows. The joy of making money is hot full of glory, nor is the joy of killing one's fellows in battle. There is no joy like that of the Christian, for he dares to speak of it everywhere, in every company. 2. The apostle mentions another blessing received by loving and trusting Christ. He says, "receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." Every man who trusts and loves Christ is saved. When we trusted Jesus, though we used no forms and ceremonies, we received the salvation of our souls. III. WHAT FOLLOWS THEN FROM THE WHOLE OF THIS? 1. It follows, in the first place, that a state of joy and salvation is the fitting and expected condition of every believer in Christ. 2. There is another inference to be drawn from my subject, and that is for the seeking soul. If you want comfort go to Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
(J. Leckie, D. D.)
(J. Foster.)
II. IT IS A NATURAL EFFECT OF GRATITUDE TO KEEP THE OBJECT OF IT MUCH IN OUR THOUGHTS. Do the privileges and benefits of the gospel interest our affections. Do our hearts burn within us when we contemplate His doctrine, His character, His astonishing humility and benevolence? III. ANOTHER EFFECT OF GRATITUDE IS TO PROCEED TO OUTWARD EXPRESSIONS OF THOSE THANKFUL SENTIMENTS WHICH INSPIRE OUR HEARTS. When we either love or hate, or grieve or rejoice in an intense degree we are sensibly gratified by the verbal expression of these affections. Words not only flow from the affections, but react upon them, and add to their vivacity and strength. IV. GRATITUDE NATURALLY DISPOSES US TO DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER AGREEABLE TO OUR BENEFACTOR, OR THAT TENDS TO PROMOTE HIS INTEREST. To pretend to love Jesus Christ while we love our sins and hold them fast is not less absurd than it would be for a man to avow allegiance to his prince while leagued with those rebellious subjects who have conspired against his person and government. When overtaken in a fault are we affected with sorrow, not only from the fear of danger, but from the consciousness of ingratitude? V. GRATITUDE NATURALLY LEADS US TO GLORY IN OUR CONNECTION WITH OUR BENEFACTORS. Jesus, a man of sorrows while He tabernacled on earth, is now exalted to the right hand of the throne of God. Our gratitude cannot add to His glory, nor can our ingratitude detract from it. But His Church, or kingdom on earth, like the kingdoms of this world, is not exempted from the vicissitudes of prosperous and adverse fates. How many alarming symptoms of the declining credit and influence of the Christian religion are exhibited in the age and country in which we live! (T. Somerville, D. D.)
II. THE ONE GREAT ACT BY WHICH THIS POSSIBILITY OF GLADNESS IS TURNED INTO A REALITY. "In Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing ye rejoice." The act of faith is the condition of joy. Joy springs from the contemplation or experience of something calculated to excite it, and the more real, permanent, and all-sufficient that object the fuller and surer the joy. But where can we find such an object as Him with Whom we are brought into union by our faith? Jesus Christ is all-sufficient, full of pity, full of beauty and righteousness, all that we can desire — and all this forever. But mark, the language of our text shows that our gladness will be accurately contemporaneous with our trust. As long as we are exercising faith, so long shall we experience joy — not one instant longer. It is like a piano, whose note ceases the moment you lift your finger from the key — not like an organ, in which the sound persists for a time after. III. THE GIFT WHICH ENHANCES JOY. The exercise of faith is itself joy, apart from what faith secures. We stretch out our hands to Christ, and the act is blessedness. Faith is the condition of joy, and the salvation of our souls, which we receive as its end, is the great reason for joy. Salvation is past, present, and future. Here it is clearly regarded as present. That present salvation will be a source of pure and noble joy. If my heart is humbly and even tremulously resting upon Him, I have got, in the measure of my faith, the real germ of all salvation. What are the elements of which salvation consists? The fact and the sense of forgiveness to begin with. Well, I have that, have I not, if I trust Christ? A growing possession of pure desires, heaven-wrought tastes, of all that is called in the Bible "the new man" — well! I have that, surely, if I trust Him. Such progressive salvation is given to me if I am trusting in Him, "Whom, having not seen, I love." All these will tend to joy. The present salvation points onwards to its own completion, and in that way becomes further a source of joy. In its depths we see reflected a blue heaven with many a star. The salvation here touches the soul alone, but salvation in its perfect form touches the body, soul, and spirit, and transforms all the outward nature to correspond to these and makes a worthy dwelling for perfected men. That prospect brings joy beyond the reach of aught else to afford. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
1. Belief in the unseen Christ is present joy because it creates harmony in the soul. 2. Because it tills the heart with the deepest love. II. ITS NATURE. 1. It is inexpressible from the depth of its emotion. 2. It is the earnest of the future heaven. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)
II. THE SOURCE OF THIS JOY. There is enough in Christ to relieve every want, to fulfil every hope, to surpass every wish. III. THE MEDIUM OF THIS JOY. 1. Faith is the only medium of an acquaintance with Him. 2. Faith is the medium of all our intercourse with Him. IV. THE INEXPRESSIBLENESS OF THIS JOY. Who can describe its sweetness, its efficiency? V. THE EXCELLENCY OF THIS JOY. (W. Jay.)
(T. De Witt Talmage.)
(T. Leighton.)
(T. De Witt Talmage.)
(T. De Witt Talmage.)
(J. Trapp.)
(Tinling's Illustrations.)
1. Because we are as sure of it as if we had it, as having God's hand for it, even His word, His seal, His sacrament. 2. Because even here we have the earnest of it, which is His Spirit. When earnest is given between honest men there is no going back, and shall God say and not do it? 3. Because by faith we are already entered into the first degree of it; being knit to Christ, and so perfectly justified, we are come to the suburbs of our glory, and are, as it were, at the gate, lacking nothing but to be let in by death. (John Rogers.)
I. I shall try to COMMEND THE SALVATION OR GOD by opening up what Peter has said in the verses before us. 1. Let me urge you to give earnest heed to the salvation of God, because it is a salvation of grace (ver. 10). The Lord proposes to save you because you are miserable and He is merciful; because you are necessitous and He is bountiful. 2. Again, your closest attention may well be asked to the salvation of God when you are told in the text that it is by faith. "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." "All that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses." "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." "He that believeth in Him is not condemned." "He that believeth on Him hath everlasting life." 3. The gospel of salvation ought to be regarded by you, for it has engrossed the thoughts of prophets. "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you." If men that had the Holy Ghost, and were called "seers," nevertheless searched into the meaning of the Word which they themselves spoke, what ought such poor things as we are to do in order to understand the gospel? It should be our delight to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the doctrines of grace. Furthermore, when prophecy had ceased, the Holy Spirit came upon another set of men of whom our text speaks. Peter says of these things, that they "are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." 4. The apostles followed the prophets in testifying to this salvation, and with the apostles there was an honourable fellowship of earnest evangelists and preachers. These noble bearers of glad tidings continued to report this salvation till they had finished their missions and their lives, and therefore I feel that for us in these times to trifle with God's Word, and give a deaf ear to the invitations of the gospel, is an insult to their honoured memories. You martyr them a second time by contemptuously neglecting what they died to hand to you. From the dead they bear witness against you, and when they rise again they will sit with their Lord to judge you. 5. Nor have we merely prophets and apostles looking on with wonder, but our text says, "Which things the angels desire to look into." They take such an interest in us, their fellow creatures, that they have an intense wish to know all the mysteries of our salvation. We have already gone a long way with this text, rising step by step. We now behold another wonder: we rise to the angels' Master. 6. Christ is the substance of this salvation. For what saith the text? The prophets spake "beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow." Ah, there is the point. To save men Jesus suffered. One other step remains. It cannot be higher; it is on the same level. It is this. 7. The Holy Ghost is the witness to all this. It was the Holy Ghost that spake in the prophets; it was the Holy Ghost who was with those who reported the gospel at the first; it is the same Holy Spirit who every day bears witness to Christ. II. So far have I commended my Lord's salvation, and now I would desire you, with all this in your own minds, to turn to the prayer in the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm: "Let Thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even Thy salvation according to Thy word." Use the prayer with this intent: Lord, I have been hearing what prophets and apostles and angels think of Thy salvation, what Thy Son and what Thy Spirit think of it; now let me humbly say what! think of it: Oh, that it were mine! Oh, that it would come to me! II. Thus, then, I would RECOMMEND THE PRAYER OF THE PSALMIST. 1. I will say about it, that it is in itself a very gracious prayer, for it is offered on right grounds.(1) There is no mention of merit or desert. His entreaty is for mercy only.(2) It is a gracious prayer, because it asks for the right thing: "even Thy salvation," not a salvation of my own invention. God's salvation is one in which His Divine sovereignty is revealed, and that sovereignty must be accepted and adored.(3) You see that the prayer is put in the right form, for it is added, "Even Thy salvation according to Thy Word." He wishes to be saved in the manner which the Lord has appointed. Lord, if Thy Word says I must repent, give me Thy salvation, and cause me to repent; if Thy Word says that I must confess my sin, give me Thy salvation in the confession of sin; if Thou sayest I must trust to Christ, Lord, help me now to trust Him; only grant me Thy salvation according to Thy Word.(4) Observe that the whole prayer is conceived and uttered in a humble spirit. It is, "Let Thy salvation come also unto me." He owns his helplessness. He cannot get at the mercy, he wants it to come to him. He is so wounded and so sick that he cannot put on the plaister nor reach the medicine, and therefore he asks the Lord to bring it to him. 2. In the second place this prayer may be supported by gracious arguments. I will suppose some poor heart painfully longing to use this prayer. Here are arguments for you. Pray like this. Say, "Lord, let Thy mercy come to me, for I need mercy." Next plead this; "Lord, Thou knowest, and Thou hast made me to know somewhat of what will become of me if Thy mercy does not come to me: I must perish, I must perish miserably." Then plead, "If Thy mercy shall come to me it will be a great wonder, Lord. I have not the confidence to do more than faintly hope it may come; but, oh, if Thou dost ever blot out my sin I will tell the world of it; through eternity I will sing Thy praises, and claim to be of all the saved ones the most remarkable instance of what Thy sovereign grace can do." Then you can put this to the good Saviour. Tell Him if He will give you His salvation, He will not be impoverished by the gift. "Lord, I am a thirsty soul; but Thou art such a river that if I drink from Thee there will be no fear of my exhausting Thy boundless supply." There is another plea implied in the prayer, and a very sweet argument it is — "Let Thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord." It means: "It has come to so many before, therefore let it come also unto me. Lord, if I were the only one, and Thou hadst never saved a sinner before, yet would I venture upon Thy word and promise. Especially I would come and trust the blood of Jesus: but, Lord, I am not the first by many millions. I beseech Thee, then, of Thy great love, let Thy salvation come unto me." 3. I will close by assuring you that this blessedly gracious prayer, which I have helped to back up with arguments, will be answered by our gracious God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
1. Its origin. "The Lord God breathed into man the breath of life." The body was composed of what existed before; but the soul that animated it came immediately from God. 2. Its immortality. Earthly possessions are estimated according to their duration. These bodies of ours must soon go to the dust; but the soul shall exist through endless duration. What, then, can be of so much importance as the salvation of the soul? II. WHAT DOES THIS SALVATION INCLUDE? 1. Redemption from the curse of the law. This is the first step in the way to heaven. 2. This salvation includes personal meetness. We must be renewed in the spirit of our minds. III. OBSERVE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN FAITH AND SALVATION. When the Christian dies he receives the end of his faith. How is this to be understood? In the verse before the text the apostle mentions "believing" as the cause of joy. The whole end and object of faith is the salvation of the soul. The Scriptures place this principle in a most prominent position (John 3:18-36). (American National Preacher.)
1. Faith is the first Christian grace. Without it you are no Christian at all. 2. This faith is a personal trust in a personal Saviour. It is more than intellectual assent, even heart-reliance. 3. This faith was, moreover, a faith in an invisible Saviour. "In whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing." II. LOVE. "Whom, having not seen, ye love." 1. Love is one essential element of the Christian religion. This it is indeed which distinguishes the Christian religion from the other religions of the world. 2. Our supreme love. His place in our affection is unique — He enjoys a love deeper, profounder, more lasting, than that of father or mother, of brother or sister. 3. These strangers of the Dispersion evinced their supreme love of the Saviour by suffering themselves to be despoiled of all their possessions rather than deny Him. Their love was sorely tested. III. JOY. "Ye rejoice," etc. 1. Joy is an essential element in the religion of Jesus Christ; not joy to the exclusion of sorrow, lint joy in the midst thereof. 2. This joy not only defies philosophy to explain it, but language to express it — "joy unspeakable," that cannot be told out.(1) The innermost joy of the Christian's heart is too Divine a thing, of too delicate a texture, to be exposed to the curious, unhallowed view of worldlings. And we all know of experiences too sacred, too precious and sweet, to be exposed to every gazer's eyes.(2) The joy which wells up in the Christian's heart cannot be conveyed in language, being too subtle and volatile a thing, evaporating in the very attempt to pour it from the heart into the bottles of grammatical construction. 3. This joy is "full of glory," or already glorified.(1) The inner centre of this joy is already white and glowing.(2) This joy has the evidence in itself of its ultimate glorification in the world to come. The process has been begun here, it will be perfected yonder. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
1. The illustrious beings interested in it. (1) (2) (3) (4) 2. The Saviour Himself by whom salvation comes. (1) (2) II. THE GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE REVELATION FOR SOUL SALVATION. 1. Predicted by the prophets. (1) (2) (3) 2. Fully declared, announced, and reported. III. THE SIMPLE MEANS OF ATTAINING SOUL SALVATION. 1. Salvation is — (1) (2) 2. This faith is — (1) (2) (3) (U. R. Thomas.)
1. The whole of it by the grip of faith and the grace of hope. 2. The absolute and final pardon of sin is ours at this moment. 3. Deliverance from slavish bondage, and from a sense of awful distance from God is a present relief. Peace, reconciliation, contentment, fellowship with God, and delight in God, we enjoy at this hour. 4. Rescue from the condemning power of sin is now complete. 5. Release from its dominion is ours. It can no longer command us at its will, nor lull us to sleep by its soothing strains. 6. Conquest over evil is given to us in great measure at once. Sins are conquerable. Holy living is possible. Some have reached a high degree of it. 7. Joy may become permanent in the midst of sorrow. II. HOW IS IT RECEIVED? 1. Entirely from Jesus, as a gift of Divine grace. 2. By faith, not by sight or feeling. 3. By fervent love to God. This excites to revenge against sin, and so gives present purification. This also nerves us for consecrated living, and thus produces holiness. 4. By joy in the Lord. This causes us to receive peace unspeakable, not to be exaggerated, nor even uttered. III. HAVE YOU RECEIVED IT, AND HOW MUCH? 1. You have heard of salvation, but hearing will not do. 2. You profess to know it, but mere profession will not do. 3. Have you received pardon? Are you sure of it? 4. Have you been made holy? Are you daily cleansed in your walk? 5. Have you obtained rest by faith and hope and love? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
1. The intensity of their study. The word here translated "searched" is used by classic authors to describe hounds scouring the country to discover their prey. We read the Bible more from idle frivolous curiosity than from a sincere deep-rooted wish to catch a view of the blessed Messiah moving in Divine stateliness through its histories and doctrines. Another striking similitude is suggested — that of anxious miners excavating for gold. Two young men catch the gold fever; despite the tearful entreaties of parents, they resolve to emigrate to Australia. The first morning after their arrival they rise earlier and with less difficulty than they ever did at home, shoulder their tools, and start eagerly for the much-coveted quarries. They dig, loosen a portion of the rock, pick up the stones. Observe how carefully they examine them to see if there be perceptible a slight golden tinge, just enough to feed hope; and if they discover a grain or two of gold, how the discovery cheers their hearts, nerves their arms, and transfigures their countenances! Similarly the holy men of the Jewish Church dug into the fields of Divine revelation, scanned verse after verse, dissected the sacrifices and analysed the prophecies, in order to possess a few grains of truth, a little refined gold. 2. The subject of their study — salvation. Not "after which salvation," but "of which, concerning which." This is one difference between heathen philosophers and Jewish prophets: the former inquired after salvation without finding it, whereas the latter possessed salvation to start with, and possessing it they had no need to search after it, but concerning it and into it. And our first concern should be to possess salvation, to be in a state of personal safety through faith in the Redeemer. Then we may at our leisure institute investigations concerning it and into it. 3. The noble spirit of resignation they evinced in presence of intellectual difficulties which they were not able to surmount. They inquired diligently; but they understood but little. II. The apostles as examples to us in the PROCLAMATION of the gospel. 1. The subject matter of their ministry. "The things now reported unto you" — what things? "The sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow." These are the only things worthy of a Christian pulpit. 2. The manner of their preaching. "The things reported." The things invented, devised, imagined? Oh no; the apostles were not inventors, but reporters; not poets, but historians; not philosophers, but witnesses. They were simply reporters, narrating, each one in his own way, the memorable events of that wonderful biography. And do they not furnish us with a much needed example? 3. The power which accompanied their preaching — "with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." Just as much electricity exists latent in the air on a serene, tranquil day as on a day of tempest when thunders roar and lightnings flash. What, then, is the difference? Not in the amount of electricity, but in the fact that in certain conditions of the atmosphere the electricity flashes into visibility, the latent fire bursts forth into flame. Similarly the Holy Spirit is as truly present in the Church today as in seasons of remarkable revivals, now as in the days of Whitfield, Wesley, and Rowlands. What is wanted is — for the Spirit to make His presence felt, for the Divine electricity to flash forth into lightnings. Pray for His manifestation; and then the weakest preacher among the tribes will be as the house of David, and the house of David as the angel of God. III. The angels an example to us in the WONDER AND ADORATION that should fill our minds in the contemplation of this salvation. 1. What are the things here referred to? The answer is obvious — the same things which the prophets predicted and the apostles proclaimed. The burden of the study as of the song of these celestial beings is — "the Lamb that was slain." And if redemption in its various phases receives the attention and homage of angels, is it not deserving of our devout and worshipful meditation? 2. Into these things the angels desire to look. The word, it is said, might be rendered a little differently "into which things the angels desire to look," to look askance, to look one side as it were over the shoulder. What, then, is the idea? That salvation fronts not the angels, who consequently have to stretch the neck and look aside, as it were round the corners, to catch a glimpse of its glory. But so enraptured are they with the beauty they behold that they strive to see more and more, crowding into the churches to learn what they may of the "manifold" — many-coloured — "wisdom of God." No; salvation does not front the angels, but it fairly and fully fronts the children of men. Shall we front it? What is our attitude towards it today? Have we our backs or our faces towards this salvation? His face is towards us; are our faces towards Him? (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
I. UNFULFILLED DESIRES. This is a world of desire. We all crave for something we have not got. We crave for possessions and we crave for knowledge. 1. Noblest desires are often unattained. It is not every one who seeks for selfish pleasure. What could have been a more noble aspiration than that of the prophets of old to realise the salvation of which they prophesied? They proclaimed a blessedness which, after diligent search, they discovered was not for themselves to enjoy. How often does God put a limit even to our highest aspirations! One has sought to gain a high knowledge of gospel truth; but his health has broken down. A missionary, in the full possession of manhood and strength, is murdered, and his work apparently crushed. It is the Lord's doing, but it seems strange in our eyes. 2. Legitimate curiosity, when exerted, affords scant satisfaction. It might be in accordance with human nature to inquire particularly into the plans and purposes of God; but the prophets of old expended their curiosity in vain. There is little purpose in investigating too closely the hidden purposes of God. God expects us to do His work, and not to inquire very minutely into the motives or ends of that work. II. UNENLIGHTENED INSTRUMENTALITIES. The prophets had to inquire respecting the salvation. We have here brought before us one of the mysteries connected with Divine work. 1. God's instrumentalities are not perfect, it is not necessary that they should be so. The world expects the ministers of the gospel to explain all God's purposes, all the Divine plans, and to lay bare the whole current of future events. But even the prophets of old were not altogether wise. 2. God's instrumentalities do not always possess that which they announce to others. III. UNAPPRECIATED ATTAINMENT. It is evident that the apostle introduces the desire of the prophets and the desire of the angels to realise the mysteries of revelation, not out of mere aimless illustration, but to remind his people of the little interest they felt, and at the same time to arouse in them a spirit of emulation. But how do we act with regard to them? Do we sell all that we have in order to make them ours? Do we sacrifice every thing else to enjoy them? Alas! the characters, and energy, and desire, and love of those who only had a shadow of good things to come ought to cause us to lie low with shame, and to pray for the stirring influence of the Holy Spirit to prick our thankless and unappreciative souls. (J. J. S. Bird.)
2. Another popular conceit of our day is, that there is but little use in studying the prophetic Word of God, or, at least, beyond what lies on the surface. This, you perceive, was not the temper of the prophets: They "diligently inquired and searched." Into these things "angels long to gaze." 3. If such be the interest felt by all that is wisest and holiest in earth and heaven, in whatever concerns the redemption of man, alas for those to whom this great salvation itself is offered, and who yet choose to live and die in the neglect of it! 4. Let the afflicted children of God take comfort from the consideration of what was foretold, and has been fulfilled, in regard to God's own Well-Beloved, the Author and Finisher of their faith, to whose image it is God's purpose, and the dearest ambition of their hearts, that they shall be in all things conformed. (J. Lillie, D. D.)
1. The malignant animus of sin. What produced these sufferings of Christ that you see depicted here? Sin. 2. The benign tendency of the Divine government. Glory comes out of these sufferings; good is educed from evil. This is God's work. As out of sin comes suffering, out of suffering shall come glory. 3. The issue of suffering virtue. The sufferings of Christ were the sufferings of virtue; and they issued in glory. And so it will ever be. Goodness, however persecuted and afflicted, shall yet ascend the throne. II. THE DISTINGUISHED ARTISTS. Who are the men that drew this wonderful picture? The text speaks of two classes; The prophets who prophesied of the "grace that should come unto you"; and the apostles who "reported." The prophets drew the dim and shadowy outline. The other class of artists are the apostles. "The things" concerning Christ which the prophets "did minister," the apostles "reported"; they "reported" them when they preached the gospel "with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." The apostles, as artists, had an advantage over the prophets: they had those outlines of our Saviour's history which the old prophets had drawn. And they had in connection with this, the living subject, Christ. He had appeared amongst them, they had seen Him, and talked with Him. They therefore tilled up the outlines of the picture which the old prophets had drawn. III. THE INSPIRING GENIUS. All real art implies genius. Genius to conceive the true and to embody it — creative and executive genius. Who was the inspiring genius of this painting? Peter tells us that in the prophets' case it was "the Spirit of Christ that was in them"; and in the apostles' case, "the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." This appears clear from the very nature of the work. Before a being can draw a correct picture of another he must have two things — a correct image of the subject in his own mind, and the proper skill correctly to transfer that image to the canvas. 1. The character of the subject. How did the prophets and apostles get a conception of Him whom they here depict? — a character so thoroughly unique, so entirely adverse to a priori impression and observation too! The highest virtue associated with the greatest suffering; the most despised man in personal connection with God. Things so contrary meeting in the same one life, render the idea of man creating such a history out of his own imagination all but absurd. The "Spirit of Christ," within them, gave them an image of some strange personage, but they knew not of whom. 2. The method of execution. A man may form a correct image of a person, and yet lack the artistic skill to transfer it to the canvas. The execution of the subject is, indeed, as unique as the conception. All mere human art is labour; effort is seen in every touch. But these men, in a few simple words about what they saw and heard, present the hero life-like in every point. The "Spirit of Christ" that was in them, not only drew to their imagination the manifold aspect of His own being, but guided their pencil in every line, to portray the same. In human productions, both in literature and art, the author generally appears, and some times is offensively prominent. But not so here. IV. THE ILLUSTRIOUS SPECTATORS. "Into which things the angels desire to look." But why should they be so interested in it? 1. Because it is suited to excite their intellectual natures. Anything extraordinary has a power to rouse the inquiring faculty. 2. Because it is suited to excite their religious natures. To a devout spirit nothing is more interesting or attractive than a manifestation of God. 3. Because it is suited to excite their benevolent natures. V. THE GLORIOUS PURPOSE. 1. Look at the universality of the purpose. "Not for themselves," but "unto us they did minister these things." 2. Look at the blessedness of the purpose. "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." (D. Thomas, D. D.)
II. Secondly, THAT AS ANY HAVE MORE GRACE, SO THEY ARE MORE HEARTILY AFFECTED WITH THE ESTIMATION AND DESIRE AFTER THE SALVATION OF GOD'S ELECT. Certainly, so long as we can admire anything more than the grace of God to His people, our hearts are void of grace. III. Thirdly, THAT WHEN WE GO ABOUT ANYTHING THAT CONCERNS SALVATION, ESPECIALLY OUR OWN SALVATION, WE SHOULD HERE LEARN OF THE PROPHETS TO DO IT WITH ALL DILIGENCE. There are three sorts of men Satan doth in the Church bewitch. 1. The first are they that will take no pains at all, nor trouble themselves to study about their religion and what belongs to their souls. 2. The second are they that, though they will study diligently, yet it is in by-studies, as matters of controversy, or the general knowledge of religion, or matter that may fit them for discourse, or the like. 3. Now a third sort there are that will not be drawn aside from the needfulest studies, as repentance, assurance, order of life, etc., but their fault is that they study not these diligently. For they soon give over and finish not their works either of mortification, or sanctification, or illumination, or preparation for salvation. (N. Byfield.)
1. Who they were — "the prophets." 2. Divinely commissioned. "The Lord of Hosts hath spoken it." 3. Divinely guided. "What manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify." II. THE GROUND EXPLORED. "Salvation." 1. The limits of the field. "So great salvation." "Eternal salvation." 2. The nature and object of their labours. "Who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you." III. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THE EXPLORATION WAS CONDUCTED. 1. A longing to discover salvation. 2. Mental activity. "Searched," etc. 3. The work was continuous. "Diligently." 4. Scrutiny. "Searching what, and what manner of time," etc. IV. THE MERITORIOUS CENTRE OF THIS EXPLORED SALVATION. "The sufferings of Christ." 1. It centres itself in a person. 2. In a Divine person. 3. In a suffering person. V. THEIR EXPLORATIONS CARRIED THE PROPHETS TO THE GRAND REWARD OF CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS. "And the glory that should follow." (John Edwards.)
I. TO CHRIST JESUS. While the world sinned and slept, Infinite Love prepared its Saviour. II. TO THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. The theme of all Spirit-taught ministers. III. TO THE GLORY THAT SHOULD FOLLOW (R.V., glories). Christ's glories are — 1. The well-earned reward of His griefs. 2. The majestic and fitting con summation of His mediatorial course; incomparable in its humiliation; peerless in its purity; and merging into the splendour of the final glory. 3. They mark the full approbation and delight in Him of the Eternal Father, sealing redemption with sublime approval. 4. They are the consolation of God, angels, and men. We never could have forgiven the Cross if the crown had not followed. 5. The Illuminated Gateway of the saints' eternity. "With Me where I am, that they may behold My glory." 6. A blessed counterpart to His sorrows. Sufferings balanced with glories. For "sin" and "curse," mediatorial holiness upon essential holiness. 7. They "followed" and forever follow. When Calvary shall be seen far back like a distant ruddy star, the glory shall still spread around and onward, a measure less sea of brightness. (W. B. Haynes.)
1. The person that suffered was God, and also man. 2. The nature and extent of His sufferings. Corporeal and mental. 3. The persons for whom the sufferings of Christ were endured. 4. The design for which Christ suffered. That He might finish transgression, and make an end of sin. II. THE GLORY THAT SHOULD FOLLOw. (The Congregational Pulpit.)
2. His ascension. 3. He shall one day come unto judgment, and bring all His servants to His glory. (John Rogers.)
1. That afflictions or persecutions are no ill sign, but rather of the way to heaven and glory; it should encourage us to suffer, seeing glory follows; and a great reward ensues thereupon. 2. That those who will suffer no affliction nor persecution for Christ and the gospel, but shifting themselves therefrom, aim at the glory of the world, are not in the way to glory, but shame hereafter will be their portion. (John Rogers.)
1. There is, I say, already among us a final perception of the unity of creation which it will be the health of our children to realise — a unity in Christ. Many of us have watched from the beginning the progress of the physical conceptions of the conservation and transformation of energy. We have apprehended with increasing clearness that nothing in the universe is isolated, and that we ourselves enter into all of which we are conscious. 2. There is again among us a growing acknowledgment of the unity of society which it will be the strength of our children to realise — a unity in Christ. Every one speaks of the present tendency towards democracy. The idea of democracy is not, if we look below the surface, so much a form of government as a confession of human brotherhood. It is the confession of common duties, common aims, common responsibilities. 3. There is yet more among us a feeling after a unity of humanity, a vaster, fuller, enduring human life, which it will be the joy of our children to realise — a unity in Christ. Such thoughts as these of an unrealised unity felt to be attainable, felt to correspond with the idea of creation given back to us in redemption, answer to the spirit of the age. They are in the air. They foreshow, that is, the truths which in the fulfilment of the Divine order are offered to us by the Holy Spirit. It is for the Church in the fulfilment of its prophetic office, even with imperfect and troubled knowledge, to welcome them, to give them shape, and to transmit them to the next age for the guidance and inspiration of its work. The truths lie, as I have said, in the gospel of the Incarnation. The urgent problems, the very dangers which rise before us, disclose in the central fact of all life — the Word became flesh — new depths of wisdom and consolation. We do not yet know the end — we have no power to know it — but we know the way — even Christ, who is able to subdue all things unto Himself. In that Presence we confess that the world is not a factory, or a warehouse, or a paradise of delights, but a sanctuary in which God's glory can be recognised and His voice still heard. But in spite of every burden of toil, of ignorance, of weariness, of suffering laid on sinful man, it is a sanctuary, full of the glory of God, in which each believer offers the worship of life and the sacrifice of his whole being. This light, this larger significance of things, this heavenly splendour of earth, this sense of opportunity, is even now borne in upon us on many sides, and it is the prophetic office of the Church to discern the signs of the fresh dayspring from on high, and prepare her sons to use the lessons of the new order. (Bp. Westcott.)
(T. C. Finlayson.)
(T. Leighton.)
1. The object of inquiry is — salvation and its concomitants: a salvation which consists in deliverance from condemnation, from the love and power of sin, and in restoration to peace and happiness; a salvation revealed in the Scriptures; a salvation the subject of prophecy; a salvation which, both in respect to its nature and the time of its accomplishment, engaged the most serious attention of the prophets; a salvation which rests, not on the merit or power of many, but on the grace of God; a salvation effected by the sufferings, death, and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2. The persons engaged in this inquiry. The angels do not partake of body, nor organic eye, nor ear, nor other sense, yet they have powers equivalent to these faculties, even increased and extended; for they are represented as knowing the interior as well as the surface of things. They are as powerful as they are wise. They have been corrupted by no apostasy from God. They are true, just, benevolent, devout, they glorify God, and thereby completely answer the ends of their creation. They are, at the same time, as happy as they are good; they feel no pain, know no want; their perceptions are all pleasant, thoughts all elevated, employments all dignified. 3. The manner in which they conduct this inquiry. They "desire to look into" them. Looking is a species or modification of seeing. It implies seeing, but it includes more. In seeing, the mind is often in a considerable degree passive; an object is brought before the eye, and it must be seen, although it may not be considered or attended to. In looking, the mind is not only active, but it puts forth all its powers with energy. The object is not brought to it, but it is sought for; and when it is found the eye is directed towards it, and kept fixed upon it, to the exclusion of other objects. When we speak of seeing, as applied to the mind, it means apprehension or discovery. Nothing is so laborious and fatiguing to the mind as fixed, intense thought; and very great must be the importance or charms of an object which can engage it. But such is the importance and such are the charms of the things of salvation to angels, that they not only bend their capacious minds to this subject, and prosecute it with fixed, intense, and eager thought, but they consider it as an object of pleasure; for they not only look, but they desire to look into the things which pertain to salvation. II. THE CREDIBILITY OF THIS TRUTH. It naturally excites surprise when we are told that angels, who have no immediate connection with salvation, should leave their native employments to investigate it with so much earnestness and solicitude. This, however, upon reflection, will be found to be a fact as reasonable as it is true. 1. The things which pertain to salvation form an object the contemplation of which is peculiarly adapted to the capacities of angels. In the salvation of Christ there is a new revelation of God; a new display of Divine character and attributes; not to be discovered in any other thing or in any other way within the whole compass of the universe of God. An object so completely adapted to the talents and to the duties of angels imposes obligations upon them to inquire into its nature and properties, which without blame, they could not neglect. 2. The things which pertain to salvation form an object which is peculiarly calculated to attract the notice of angels. They, in visiting, age after age, the utmost bounds of the creation of God, must have seen mighty wonders unknown to man; yet, after all, there is something, if I may so express myself, in the nature and texture, in the magnitude and utility of salvation, which has not its equal in the whole universe of God. It is this, therefore, that justly attracts their notice, and leads them to bend their mighty minds to the investigation of a subject so singularly astonishing. 3. The things which pertain to salvation form an object the knowledge of which will be highly beneficial to angels. It reveals to them new attributes, and discovers new glories in the Divine character; it increases their piety and devotion; it will afford them new employments, and add to their usefulness; it will enable them to discharge better the duties of their high office of ministering to the heirs of salvation; and it will give them a sweeter voice and a loftier tone in performing the heavenly song, which ascribes blessing and power and dominion to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever. 4. The things which pertain unto salvation form an object in attending to which angels serve God. When angels trace in salvation evidences of wisdom, power, and glory, far superior to those which appear in the other works of God; when they admire the wonderful events of the incarnation, atonement, and redemption, these new things which have happened in the earth, their reverence and love towards the Divine Being are thereby increased; they render homage to the Son of God; and, in so doing, they obey the commandment which God hath given; for when He brought His First Begotten into the world, He said, "Let all the angels of God worship Him"; and thus they serve Him with increasing diligence and zeal. III. THE UTILITY OF THIS TRUTH. 1. It is calculated to rescue the doctrine of salvation from unworthy treatment, Yes! angels are captivated by the doctrines of salvation which men presume to neglect. 2. It should give the doctrine of salvation dignity in the eyes of men. 3. It indicates the manner in which the doctrine of salvation should be studied. 4. It should encourage perseverance in endeavouring to attain the knowledge of the doctrine of salvation. 5. The greatness of the privileges of those to whom the knowledge of salvation is offered. Jesus Christ is emphatically styled in the Scriptures the unspeakable gift of God; and surely to attain the knowledge of salvation through Him, must be the most important privilege that possibly can be enjoyed. (J. C. Jones. D. D.)
1. The first and chief of these is, to quote St. Pear's own words, "the sufferings of Christ": by which we may understand His entire work of humiliation from Bethlehem to Calvary. We must believe that the angels knew, long before the advent, that the Second Person of the Trinity was to be the Redeemer of the world. But it is not certain that they had any distinct conception of the Incarnation. "Great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh." How could they have penetrated this mystery beforehand? There was neither precedent nor analogy to aid them in resolving it. Accustomed as they were to render co-equal honours to the Trinity, and especially to adore the Son in "the possession of the glory which He had with the Father before the world was," how could they think of Him as stooping to be "born of a woman," as coming into this revolted world as an infant, blending His Divinity and our humanity in an indissoluble unity? Imagine what a season of suspense those thirty years must have been to them which Jesus passed at Nazareth. How often would they visit the favoured village. In what vast encampments would they spread around it. As He emerged from His seclusion to enter upon His public ministry, their interest would become deeper and deeper still, until it found its culmination in the Cross. 2. Not only would the angels desire to look into the "sufferings of Christ," but into the application of redemption also. They were familiar with two types of character, perfect holiness and unmitigated depravity; and with two conditions of being, unalloyed happiness and absolute misery. Neither their own history nor, so far as we are informed, the annals of any other sphere supplied them with any example of a character in which these elements were commingled, or afforded any hint of a possible transition from one state to the other. They knew nothing of forgiveness, nothing of renewal. The sacrifice on Calvary now opens to them a new world, on earth as well as in heaven. They had, indeed, seen something of this before, for the efficacy of the great expiation reached backward to the fall. But its triumph was reserved for the new dispensation. And here they see His miracles of mercy — not less marvellous in their effects upon the souls of men than had been those of the Messiah upon their bodies. There must be much in the history of individual believers to awaken their sympathies, but still more in the general welfare of the Church. We may be sure that things have not always gone as they expected: that events have constantly occurred which were well nigh as inexplicable to them as to us. Must it not be a marvel to them that the Church, the purchase of Christ's blood, should have made its way so slowly and so painfully in the world? that at one time it should be poisoned With error; at another, frozen with formalism; at a third, debauched with secularity; at a fourth, fissured and rent with internal strife? 3. Here, in fact, is another of the themes which stimulate the curiosity of the angels, "the glories which should follow." They have seen the "sufferings of Christ": they would fain see His glory. They have seen — they see now — the sufferings of His Church: they would see its glory. They can, no doubt, frame a better conception of them than we can. And this very circumstance must increase their solicitude to witness the final result. They saw the first faint lineament of the august plan in Eden. They see also the preparation for it which is going on in heaven. No wonder that they long for its sublime consummation. If we inquire whence this curiosity on their part, we may easily conjecture some of the motives which prompt it.(1) Without dwelling upon that simple craving after knowledge which pertains to every created intelligence, we may refer to the aid which the angels derive from redemption in their study of the character and government of God. To any creature the knowledge of the Creator is the most important of all knowledge. To holy beings, no study can be so attractive. The angels, as already observed, have signal advantages for this study. But there is no volume open to them which yields so much information concerning God as redemption. Heaven cannot lack for evidences of the Divine wisdom; but if it would see this attribute in its glory, it must come down to earth. Its grand achievement is redemption. And what we affirm of His wisdom we claim also for His other moral attributes. Here "mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other." Nowhere else has the Deity made so full, so august, so grateful, a revelation of Himself.(2) A second reason is to be found in their personal concern in the results of redemption. It is an opinion sanctioned by many eminent names in theology, that the good angels owe their confirmation in holiness in some way to the mediation of Christ. We read, e.g., of "the elect angels." We are told that God "gathers together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him." And that "all power is given Him in heaven and in earth." There is another respect in which they are interested in this work. In the revolt of their associates, they become no less their enemies than the enemies of God. In all the plots and counterplots, the assaults and repulses, the victories and defeats, of this war of centuries, they have taken a conspicuous part. Their immediate personal concern in it, then, is a cogent reason why they should desire to look into the mystery which infolds it.(3) And this imports that their own happiness is involved in the issue. Merely to glance at this point, the benevolence of the angels must attract them to the study of redemption. They know what the happiness of heaven is. Here is a race whose destiny is undecided, the only race which is in this anomalous condition. Whatever the issue, it must be irreversible. The fate of millions of souls hangs upon the trembling balance. Is it for an angel to look upon such a scene with indifference?Reflections — 1. Let us borrow from this scripture a single ray of light to set forth the quality of that scepticism which men of cultivated minds sometimes cherish respecting Christianity. Now, as of old, the gospel is "to the Jew a stumbling block and to the Greek foolishness." You stigmatise it as not only oppressive in its demands, but even irrational in its principles. Go to the angels for a lesson of humility. 2. There is a keen rebuke in this scripture for those who are living in the neglect of the gospel. (H. A. Boardman, D. D.)
1. From its novelty. 2. From the moral character of the race to be redeemed. 3. From the manner of its accomplishment. 4. From the mode of its promulgation. 5. From the manner in which the tidings of this salvation, even when preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, are received by the children of men. II. INFINITELY GLORIOUS. 1. In its exhibition of the Divine character. 2. In its transforming efficacy. 3. In its diffusive nature. 4. In the freeness with which its blessings are offered. (1) (2) (3) 5. In the perpetuity and fulness of its blessings. (James Floy, M. A.)
II. III. IV. (A. Roberts, M. A.)
1. The first thing I shall mention is the Incarnation of the Son of God; the union of the Divine and human nature, by the Word's being made flesh. It is probable that this discovery was made to the angels gradually, as it was to men. There is one circumstance in the Incarnation itself, which is certainly as astonishing as any, That He was not only made flesh, but sent "in the likeness of sinful flesh." What so opposite to the nature of God as sin? And what so surprising, as that the Son of God, though without sin, yet should in all respects outwardly be like to sinners? that He should be taken for a sinner, treated as a sinner, and at last crucified as more than ordinary sinner? 2. Another circumstance which must afford matter for adoring inquiry to the celestial spirits, is the substitution of an innocent person in the room of the guilty, and His suffering from the hand of God. The angels had always hitherto seen innocence and holiness attended with peace and felicity, and they had seen the apostate spirits laid under an irreversible sentence of condemnation. What astonishment, then, must it have given them, what new views of the boundless sovereignty and unsearchable wisdom of the Most High must it have opened to them, when they heard Him saying, "Deliver him from going down into the pit, I have found a ransom!" How often must they have been put to a stand, what to think of the severity and persecution, the contempt and opposition which Christ met with from those very sinners whom He came to save! But above all, how must they have been at a loss to comprehend His being exposed, not only to the contempt of man, but to the wrath of God! For "it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, He hath put Him to grief." 3. Another circumstance in the plan of redemption through Christ, which will afford matter of wonder to the celestial spirits, is the free justification of sinners, and their acceptance with God, through the imputed righteousness of Christ. Must not this appear a new and extraordinary plan to the angels, who, by personal and perfect obedience, retain the favour of their Creator, and who had been hitherto strangers to the influence and intercession of a mediator? who had seen no such thing take place when their brethren sinned (Hebrews 2:16). The holy angels will rather say, "Let us step aside and see this great sight." They will then see that there is no way more proper for maintaining the dignity of the Divine Government; nay, that it is the only way by which those who have been sinners can be received into favour. They will see and confess that there is no circumstance whatever that tends more to level the pride of the sinner's heart, and bring him to universal submission, and absolute subjection to the sovereignty of God. 4. Another circumstance in the mystery of the gospel which will be matter of wonder to the angels, is the application of redemption, or the manner and means of translating sinners "from darkness to light," and "from the power of Satan unto God." II. PRACTICAL IMPROVEMENT. 1. What you have heard will contribute, I hope, to show the guilt of those who despise the gospel, and serve to remove the offence of the Cross. 2. You may learn from what has been said the encouragement that is given to sinners to return to God through Christ. 3. From what hath been said upon this subject, you may examine your title to partake of the holy ordinance of the Lord's Supper; or, in other words, your right to the favour of God and to eternal life. No disposition more suitable, none more necessary at a communion table than a grateful and admiring sense of redeeming love; 4. From what has been said, learn what is your most proper employment at the Lord's table. Adore and contemplate the riches of redeeming grace, that great theme which "the angels desire to look into." (J. Witherspoon, D. D.)
1. The Incarnation of Christ, or His coming into this world (1 Timothy 3:16) 2. The life of Christ. That perfect pattern of all that was excellent is often before their eyes. 3. The death of Christ. The love of it, in His dying for sinful man, must be to them subject of perpetual wonder and praise. 4. The doctrines of Christ. His admirable lessons of piety and virtue; His wise precepts and instructions; His wonderful revelations of the Divine will must be highly entertaining to them (Revelation 14:6). 5. The promises of Christ. II. THE MANNER IN WHICH THE ANGELS LOOK INTO THESE THINGS. 1. With wonder. 2. With the closest attention. 3. With reverence. 4. With delight. 5. With praise. III. THE PROOF OR REASON OF THEIR DOING SO. 1. The angels being employed so much about these things, seems to show that they desire to look into them. 2. These things concern angels as well as men. God is their Father as well as ours, and the portion of both. 3. God is glorified in and by these things. Their work is to glorify Him (Revelation 7:11; Psalm 148:2). 4. They are for the highest good of man, and therefore the angels desire to look into them. They have a generous concern for our welfare. 5. The subject matter of these things is such, as that the angels must needs desire to look into them. Never were greater things than those which Christ has revealed to us.Application: 1. Since the angels look into these things, do you look more into them? 2. Since the angels look into these things, do you put a higher value upon them? 3. Since the angels look into these things, see that you have a saving interest in them, otherwise the angels that look into them will witness against you. (T. Hannam.)
I. We remark that the angels desire to look into "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that shall follow," NOT BY ANY MEANS IN CONSEQUENCE OF IGNORANCE IN REFERENCE TO THE GRAND FACTS OF THE SCHEME OF REDEMPTION. When Adam was expelled from Paradise, and an angel stationed at its gate to deter the guilty rebel from ever approaching the place whose sanctity he had profaned, we may imagine that that angel was aware of the hopes and consolations sealed up in the great promise, and knew man was not accursed forever. Angels visited in his tent the Father of the faithful, and knew that unto his off spring God had promised eternal blessings. Choirs of angels welcomed the incarnation of the Lord with strains of heavenly music. Doubtless, these blessed spirits knew the subject of which they sang so sweetly. Heaven's heralds knew they were greeting the human nature of Heaven's eternal King. However, it is proper to take notice of a text, which, at first sight, will rather appear to demonstrate that the angels are not deeply versed in the matters of fact connected with the redemption of Christ (Ephesians 3:9-10). But this passage by no means implies that it is the Church alone which enlightens the heavenly host in the glorious dispensation of the Gospel of Christ. The assertion of the passage is not that the heavenly host were in ignorance of that subject till the Church instructed them, but that they never learned the subject through the Church till the Church received, and professed, and obeyed the truth. The angels knew the mystery of redemption before the apostles went forth on the theatre of the world to preach salvation to every creature. But it was not till, from their lofty dwelling place in heaven, they saw the Gentile and the Jew alike being gathered into one fold of the one great Shepherd, that they knew, by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God. II. We remark that the angels desire to look into the sufferings and glory of Christ, BECAUSE THERE THEY OBTAIN THE BRIGHTEST DISPLAY OF THE DIVINE PERFECTIONS. III. The angels desire to look into "the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow," BECAUSE THE ETERNAL INTERESTS OF MANKIND DEPEND ON THESE THINGS, AND BECAUSE THESE ETERNAL INTERESTS ARE AT STAKE. When we analyse the motive which impels the angels to look into the mystery of redemption, it resolves itself not only into a reverential desire of studying the Divine perfections, but also into an anxious concern for the salvation of sinners. This concern is itself twofold, depending partly on the desire of the angels to see Christ glorified in the salvation of sinners, and partly on the benevolent affection of the angels to these sinners, whom they see in such imminent danger of everlasting destruction. IV. The angels desire to look into "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow," in other words, INTO THE PROGRESS OF THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, BECAUSE THE ISSUE OF THAT WORK WILL BE THE ELEVATION OF THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT OVER THE ANGELIC RACE, IN DIGNITY, GLORY, AND POWER. What strange and striking thoughts it must suggest to an angelic being to look upon a human creature, depraved, condemned, absorbed in the pleasures of sin, and at last falling a prey to death, who yet, in virtue of a previous union to Christ by faith, shall rise above the fetters of mortality, shall be elevated to the holiness and happiness of heaven. (Alex. Nisbet.)
I. THE NATURE OF THESE ANGELS. The Scriptures have revealed but little about them. The Bible was not given us to reveal their nature, but to make known to us the plan of salvation. Yet there is something about the nature of angels which we may know by the study of ourselves. 1. We have memory. History has a meaning to us. Our memories, at best, are very imperfect, but there are some things we never forget. Now, the memory of any one thing implies the possibility of a memory that will never forget. Now, angels, no doubt, have memories far more tenacious than ours. How this will add to their knowledge. 2. Then we have the power of connecting cause and effect, and the power of pure reason; and we have that still more marvellous power, imagination. Whither cannot imagination go? How much better are angels fitted by powers far more perfect than these to gather knowledge. 3. Then, again, we are hindered by our bodies — one-third of our time is taken up in eating and sleeping. Angels are free from all this. 4. Then consider how much more we know than we did fifty years ago. Yet the angels witnessed the birth of the worlds and systems of worlds. All history lays open before them. They know of God's providence. How much then these angels must know of God; I had almost said what do they not know of Him? II. Consider, that notwithstanding all this knowledge THE ANGELS WERE NOT SATISFIED BECAUSE THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE PLAN OF SALVATION. They heard of this plan and were deeply interested. They "desire to look into it." With all their powers of investigation, with all their vast knowledge, here was a matter that they had not fathomed, and that they greatly desired to know. Yet scientists sometimes feel that they are so busy as to have no time to study this salvation. They are busy at studying the structures of crystals. Why angels know all about them. They saw the particles taking their positions. These men are busy in investigating the strata of the rocks. Why, the angels saw the upheaval of the rooks which so diversified and distorted the strata. They were there at the formation of the earth and have witnessed all the changes. All these things, which so deeply concern these scientists, are plain as A B C to these angels, who. nevertheless, so desire to see into the plan of salvation, that subject which the scientists deem of so little importance. III. IT IS NOT REVEALED TO US HOW ANGELS SOUGHT TO UNDERSTAND THIS MATTER. The visions concerning it came to the prophets, doubtless, as pictures. They did not fully understand all they saw. Moses, when he desired to see God, was told that no one could see the face of God and live. Another prophet saw a different picture, he saw Christ as a lamb led to the slaughter. Others saw still different pictures. Now I imagine that the angels, as the prophets traced the pictures they saw, would look over their shoulders to study this marvellous salvation. That word which is translated in the text, "look into," is a wonderful word. It means to look down into. It implies eagerness to see the bottom. (Bishop Simpson.)
1. Salvation. 2. The grace of the gospel. 3. The sufferings of Christ. 4. The glory that should follow. II. THE MANNER IN WHICH THE ANGELS CONTEMPLATE THESE THINGS. 1. Attentively. 2. Humbly and reverentially. 3. With eager and prevailing desire. III. THE INSTRUCTIONS AND ADMONITIONS WHICH THEIR CONTEMPLATION OF THESE THINGS AFFORDS TO US. The desire which angels manifest to look into these things, teaches — 1. The dignity and the glory of the Son of God, who has furnished them with such subjects of contemplation, 2. The magnitude and importance of the work of redemption. 3. The means which we must use, in order to be influenced by them ourselves. We must "look" into them — we must make them the subject of devout and studious contemplation. 4. The propriety and the duty of making them known to all mankind. 5. The criminality of those persons who treat the same things with indifference and neglect. (J. Alexander.)
I. THE MEANING THEN, IS, BE THOROUGHLY COURAGEOUS, GENUINE, SINCERE. Make your life compact by the girdle of truth. Avoid loose, unsubstantial convictions regarding spiritual and eternal things, Remember, however little the word of revealed truth is to you, it is God's greatest and best thought: that it is the divine record concerning yourself and His dear Son ought to make it of infinite importance to you. Therefore, "gird up the loins of your mind." Tighten the belt. You can do better work, run a better race, or be better ready for fight. Then shall you be fitted for the best service the King demands. Settled convictions of divine truth are of great value; they give stability, contentment, and influence. The girdle compact, and everything is made available for comfort and usefulness, you are stable and helpful when others are weak and vacillating. II. THIS, ALSO, WILL INDUCE SOBRIETY, GRAVITY, THOUGHTFULNESS. And, impressed with the magnitude and sustained by the certainty of divine truth, you will "set your hope perfectly on the grace, or favour, that is to be brought unto you when Jesus shall come again," to give eternal honour to His people. Stop, then; think, tighten your belt. Many are not ready for the sudden revelation of Jesus Christ. Are you? O, the supreme importance of being ready now, and each moment! III. "TELL US HOW WE SHALL DO THIS GIRDING." Peter wrote these words in the shadow of the greatest truths: the Cross, and the possibility of your salvation. Think often of the Cross and its mystery of grace; it will fill your life with the mightiest motives. Think of the end of your faith, the salvation of your soul. Think; you are in possession of God's revelation, His best thought, the sunlight of your present joy and your future hope. Think; you are in fellow ship with Jesus Christ. Do it by much prayer. (J. Parker.)
2. How ardently these men expected the coming of the Lord! 3. It is equally noticeable that while apostolic men looked for the coming of Christ, they looked for it with no idea of dread, but, on the contrary, with the utmost joy. 4. Observe also, how constantly they were urging this as a motive! Peter never holds it out as a mere matter of speculation, nor exclusively as a ground of comfort; but as the grand motive for action, for holiness, for watchfulness. The teaching necessary for today is this: "Gird up the loins of your mind," brace yourselves up; be firm, compact, consistent, determined. Do not be like quicksilver, which keeps on dissolving and running into fractions; do not fritter away life upon trifles, but live to purpose, with undivided heart, and decided resolution. These are equally days in which it is necessary to say "be sober." We are always having some new fad or another brought out to infatuate the unstable. "Be sober," and judge for yourselves. Nor is the third exhortation unnecessary: "Hope to the end." Be so hopeful as to be "calm mid the bewildering cry, confident of victory." I. AN ARGUMENT. "Wherefore." True religion is not unreasonable; it is common sense set to heavenly music. The apostle begins by saying, "Elect according to foreknowledge," etc. Shall the elect of God be timorous? Shall those who are chosen of the Most High give way to despair? God forbid! There is an argument, then, in the first and second verses, forcibly supporting the precepts of the text. It well behoves the elect of God to choose His service resolutely, to abide in it steadfastly, and hope for its reward with supreme confidence. But next, Peter declares that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has "begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." O ye begotten of God, see that ye live as such! You are twice-born men; live not the low life of the merely natural man. You are descended from the King of kings; degrade not your descent! Your election and your regeneration call you to holy living. Further, the apostle goes on to say that you are heirs of "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." Courage, then, if this be your destiny: do not be cast down by the aboundings of sin, nor even by your own personal temptations. Then he goes on to say that you are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." If the power of God keeps me, shall I be hopeless? Shall I speak like one that has no hereafter to rejoice in? Further, the apostle goes on to say that we may be passing through needful trial, but it is only for a little while. Come, then, if this fire is to be passed through, let us gird up our loins to dash through it. Let us hope to be sustained, and sanctified as the result, and let no unbelieving fear cast a cloud over our sky. Is not this good argument? Nor is this all. He tells us that even while we are in trial we are still full of joy. Once more: the apostle goes on to. say that the gospel which we believe, and for which we are ready to suffer, is a gospel that comes to us with the sanction of the prophets. It seems to me that with such men as Moses and David, Isaiah and Jeremiah, to support our faith, we need not be ashamed of our company, nor tremble at the criticisms of the moderns. II. THE EXHORTATION. 1. "Gird up the loins of your mind."(1) That certainly teaches us earnestness. We brace ourselves for a supreme effort; and the Christian life is always such.(2) Does it not also mean preparedness? A true believer should be ready for suffering or service — ready, indeed, for anything.(3) It means determination and hearty resolution. By conflict throughout a whole life we come to our rest; and there is no other way. You cannot go round to a back door, and enter into heaven by stealth. You must fight if you would reign. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind.(4) Once more, the figure teaches us that our life must be concentrated. "Gird up the loins of your mind." We have no strength to spare; we cannot afford to let part of our force leak away. We need to bring all our faculties to bear on one point, and exert them all to one end. 2. "Be sober."(1) This means moderation in all things. Do not be so excited with joy as to become childish. Do not grow intoxicated with worldly gain or honour. On the other hand, do not be too much depressed with passing troubles.(2) Keep the middle way; hold to the golden mean. Make sure of your footing when you stand; make doubly sure of it before you shift.(3) Be clear headed. Ask that the grace of God may so rule in your heart that you may be peaceful, and not troubled with idle fear on one side or with foolish hope on the other. "Be sober," says the apostle. You know the word translated "be sober" sometimes means "be watchful"; and indeed there is a great kinship between the two things. Live with your eyes open; do not go about the world half asleep. 3. "Hope to the end." Be strong in holy confidence in God's Word, and be sure that His cause will live and prosper. Hope to the end; go right through with it; if the worst comes to the worst, hope still. Hope as much as ever a man can hope; for when your hope is in God you cannot hope too much. But let your hope be all in grace. Do not hope in yourself or in your works; but "hope in the grace"; for so the text may be read. Hope, moreover, in the grace which you have not yet received, in "the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Bless God for the grace that you have not yet obtained, for He has it in store for you; yea, He hath put it on the road, and it is coming to you. III. EXPECTATION. What you have got to hope for is more grace. God will never deal with you upon the ground of merit; He has begun with you in grace, and He will go on with you in grace, therefore "hope to the end for the grace." The grace you are to hope for is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. He has been revealed once, at His first advent; hence the grace you have. He is to be revealed very soon in His second advent; hence the grace that is a-coming to you. "My ship is coming home," says the child. So is mine: Jesus is coming, and that means all things to me. But what can this grace be that will be received at His coming? Justification? No, we have that already by His resurrection. Sanctification? No; we have that already, by being made partakers of His life. What is the grace that is to be revealed at His coming? Just look at the chapter, anal you will read in the fifth verse, "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." 1. Perfect salvation is one part of the grace which is to be brought in the last time when Christ comes. When He comes there will be perfection for our souls and salvation for our bodies. 2. The second grace that Christ will bring with Him when He comes is the perfect vindication of our faith: "that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Today they sneer at our faith, but they will not do so when Jesus comes; today we ourselves tremble for the ark of the Lord, but we shall not do so when He comes. Then shall all men say that believers were wise, prudent, philosophical. Those who believe in Jesus may be called fools today, but men will think otherwise when they see them shine forth as the sun in the Father's kingdom. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
I. THE ESSENTIALS OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. They are — diligence, sobriety, and hope. 1. Diligence. This virtue is here exemplified by a very striking figure. Christians are not to be like pompous peacocks, mere objects of beauty, strutting about over the green fields of earth. They are not to be languid and effeminate dreamers. They are to engage in the activities of manhood, and for this purpose must brace themselves with vigour. There is much to be accomplished. There is much to be learnt. There is much to be obtained. There is much to be endured. But the apostle is particular to remind us of the spiritual nature of this work - "Gird up the loins of your mind." The Christian life is not an outward thing. The mind is the battlefield. Here the battles are lost or won. How much does the mind require bracing up! It soon sinks into indifference and sluggishness, especially under trials or difficulties. A healthy soul results from moral discipline. We are to brace up our thoughts by wholesome restraint, our desires by a strong curb, our sentiments by calm deliberation. This requires patient and persevering diligence. 2. Sobriety. "Be sober." This does not refer to what we call temperance. It is that calm, quiet dignity which so well befits a Christian man, and which raises him above the flighty, giddy, thoughtless throng of worldly people. There is something noble in his character. 3. Patient hope. Here is a rebuke to the restless uneasiness at the trials of life which was the cause of writing this Epistle. II. THE GREAT CHRISTIAN MOTIVE. "The grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." And is it not worth hoping for? 1. Consider its greatness. It is not an earthly blessing — temporary, passing, and mingled with what is evil, sinful, and transitory. It is —(1) An eternal state. All our chief sorrows here are caused by change.(2) A perfect state. Life will be perfect; here most men only half live. Health will be perfect. Taste will be perfect. Employment will be perfect. And all the surroundings of this state will be perfect also. 2. Consider its fulness. There is no stint in the eternal life which is provided. The vastness of heaven is one of the mysteries we have to contemplate, but at present cannot understand. III. THE GREAT END OF CHRISTIAN DEVELOPMENT — holiness. All discipline has one object to carry out. 1. Under the aspect of dutiful children. "As obedient children," etc. Here is a grand motive — the motive of love. 2. Under the aspect of similitude. We desire to be like those whom we love. Holiness, then, makes us like God. Without it we cannot be conformed to Him. Without it we cannot associate with Him. 3. Under the aspect of universality. "In all manner of conversation," i.e., in all your behaviour. Holiness is to pervade all things. (J. J. S. Bird.)
II. MORAL SOBRIETY. "Be sober." It may include three things. First: Moral judiciousness. Judiciousness in our opinions, our affections, our expectations, and speech. Souls are often intoxicated with wild and extravagant sentiments. Second: Moral steadfastness. The soul should not reel to and fro like a drunken man; it should be steadfast. "Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free." Thirdly: Moral seriousness. Christian seriousness stands in sublime contrast both to gloom on the one hand and to levity on the other. III. PERMANENT HOPE. "Hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." This language implies three things. First: That the perfection of our being is to be looked for in the future. Secondly: That our future perfection is to be obtained in connection with grace. "Hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you." Thirdly: That the grace that is to ensure our perfection will be fully manifested at the appearance of ,Jesus Christ. "The grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (D. Thomas, D. D.)
1. Righteousness. 2. Faithfulness. 3. Truth. II. THE CONSIDERATION. "Be sober." There is such a thing, of course, as being drunk mentally or spiritually. A drunken man is very foolish, yet conceited; and he is quarrelsome, and hazardous, and he would lie down and go to sleep anywhere. III. THE DECISION. "Hope to the end." Your hope is to be in the perfect work of Christ. "Be not moved away from the hope of the gospel." IV. THE PROSPECT. "For the grace," etc. (James Wells.)
1. "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty." In reference to all knowledge, what is the chief hindrance? Is it not vanity? Is it not the "saying, We see?" Gird up the loins of your mind by a deep humility. "Thou art near, they tell, me, O Lord: but I am so far off — so ignorant, so stupid, so sin bound — O quicken me." 2. But next to it I would place its sister grace — which is patience. Patience; perhaps above all, for the reconciliation of apparently contradictory principles, and the harmonising of certain parts of Revelation with the character of God Himself the Revealer. Be willing to wait. Not indolently, not in indifference, but in a submissive waiting. 3. Hope. "Hope to the end," St. Peter says — "Hope perfectly" are his very words — meaning doubtless, perseveringly and amidst all obstacles. And St. Peter makes hope very definite when he adds, "for the grace that is being brought to us." It cannot be that this scene of confusion should be forever. As God is true, as God is holy, as God is merciful, it shall not. We see not as yet how it shall be. But, where explanation fails, where reason fails, where revelation itself fails, hope fails not. (Dean Vaughan.)
I. For the former, which is PLEASURE, thereto may be referred meat, drink, apparel, recreation, etc. All which we must use soberly to the glory of the Giver, our own good, and the good also of others. 1. For our meat and drink, we must neither be excessive nor over-curious, as Dives who fared deliciously every day, making his belly his god. We must eat to live, and thereby be more fit for duty. 2. For our apparel, we must not exceed for the matter of it, nor for the fashion. God hath given it for necessity, comeliness, and decency. 3. For recreation, it must be sparing in time, place, measure, to make us more fit for our duty; for God hath not set us here to pamper the flesh, but to mortify the lusts thereof: not to play, but to do His work. II. For the latter, namely, PROFITS, we must also be sober, both in getting and keeping them. We must not only use no unlawful means to get the world, but use the lawful means moderately, not filling ourselves with too many businesses, and following the same too eagerly, lest we neglect good duties, or be hindered from doing them as we should. (John Rogers.)
I. THE OBJECT ON WHICH THIS CHRISTIAN HOPEFULNESS IS TO FASTEN, like a limpet on a rock. "The grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Here "grace" means the sum of the felicities of a future life. That is clear from two considerations — that this grace is the object of our hope all through life, which only an object beyond the grave can be, and also that its advent is contemporaneous with the revelation of Jesus Christ. The expression, though unusual, is valuable because it brings out two things. It reminds us that whatever of blessedness we may possess in the future it is all a gratuitous, unmerited gift of that loving God to whom we owe everything. And then there is another thought suggested by this word, namely, the substantial identity of the Christian life here and hereafter. Grace is glory in the bud, glory is grace in the flower; and all which we hope for in the future is but the evolving of that which is planted in our hearts today, if we love Him, though it may have to fight with much antagonism to itself both without us and within. The inheritance is a hope, but the earnest of the inheritance, which is of the same stuff as the inheritance, is a present possession. Further, this grace is on its way to us. It is "being brought," as the margin of the Revised Version has it; or "a-bringing," as Leighton translates it. It is on its road as if some band of strong-winged angels had already left the throne, and, like them who bore the Holy Grail, were steadily flying nearer and nearer to us. With all the power of strong winds and waves lifting it on, it is bearing down upon us as a ship at sea. By all the passions and convulsions of earth the day of the Lord is hastened on its course. Further, this grace, which is on its way to us, is wrapped up in the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is brought to us encased in that revelation, like a fair jewel in a golden setting. When He who "is our life shall be manifested," says another apostle, then shall we also "be manifested with Him in glory." As in an old picture you will sometimes see a saint represented as standing near the Master with a glory encompassing him, that rays from the Christ, so our glory in the future is all to be hut the effluence and the reflection of His glory. Why should we let our hopes go trailing along the ground, like some poor creeping plant that the gardener has forgotten to put a stick to, when they might lift themselves to the heavens? Why should you ever feed your hopes upon the bread that perishes, and sometimes upon husks, when you may feed them on angels' food? Why should you confine your hope within the limits of this world when it might expand to the width of that great eternity that lies there before you through which you may let your hope wander at will? Set your hope there, and then it will never be ashamed or confounded. II. THE PERFECT HOPE WHICH GRASPS THE PERFECT OBJECT. "Hope perfectly" would be the true rendering, it being a question not at all of duration but of "quality." There are all degrees of hope from the most doubtful "peradventure" up to almost certainty. But there is always a kind of doubt and dread mingling with hope. A certain wistful look as of one who knows not what may be drawing on is ever in Hope's blue eyes; and "hopes, and fears that kindle hope" are an indistinguishable throng. That is necessarily so, because here our hopes are fixed on contingent, external things, and are mostly born of our wishes rather than of reasonable probabilities. Therefore, this exhortation here, in effect, bids us lift our hopes higher, and set them on God that they may be sure. Are we letting our hearts lead our hopes astray after the will-o'-the-wisps of earth, instead of ordering their march by the pole star of God's faithful promise? Does our hope leap up to lay hold on that cord let down from heaven, and by it to climb above the level of mutation and disappointment? III. THE SELF-DISCIPLINE BY WHICH THE PERFECT HOPE IS MAINTAINED. Girding up the loins of the mind and being "sober" are the two great means to that end. The first of them enjoins concentration of mind and will, a determined effort to realise the future and persistently to hope in the teeth of all discouragement. Travellers, servants, soldiers have to brace up their robes and buckle them tight with their girdles. So we have to gather up our thoughts and cultivate the habit of fixed attention to unseen things. The loosely braced mind will be unable to cherish a lively hope; a man with his robes flapping about his feet cannot run. They hinder his stride, catch in the briars, get trodden on by rivals. There are many difficulties in the way of our Christian hope. It is hard to keep its light burning through the darkness of the night and the howling of the storm. Why, a man cannot have earthly hopes bright unless he concentrates his thoughts upon them. And how can our hope of heaven be clear, triumphant, unless we coerce our vagrant imaginations and loose flowing affections and by a dead lift and effort set our hopes in God? Wherefore, brace up the loins of your minds and hope. "Be sober." Rigid self-control and repression are needed for such a hope. The clear eye of hope cannot see the land that is very far off through the fogs that rise from the undrained marshes of our animal nature. In this sense, too, the flesh lusts against the spirit. But not only must bodily appetites be held well in hand, all desires that go out towards the present must be subdued. Hope follows desire. The vigour of our hopes is affected by the warmth of our desires. The warmth of our desires towards the future depends largely on the turning away of our desires from the present. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
1. First, then, Christian hope, as St. Peter tells us, is seated "in God"; it is, as it has been called, one of the triad of virtues specially "theological"; it takes its stand on Divine revelation, it looks on to the attainment of Divine promises. It draws its life-blood from no mere surmise as to what is possible for humanity, in the race at large or in the individual, but from the manifestation of Divine truth and goodness in the Incarnate, whom St. Paul calls "our hope" (1 Timothy 1:1), because our hope is grounded on Him and centred in Him. St. Paul, indeed, cannot think of hope without thinking of Christ; it is characteristic of him that the object of his "earnest expectation and hope" should be the glorification of Christ in his body, whether by life or by death. So he elsewhere speaks of Christians as having been "called in one hope" which grows out "of their calling," which derives all its force and charm from the act of grace that brought them into that sacred and supernatural fellowship. Christian hope, being rooted in faith, is, like faith, vivid, positive, and definite; it is, as St. Peter calls it, "living," because it is a fruit of the resurrection life of Jesus; it gazes with calm, trustful eyes, onward and still onward, into a future literally boundless, as illuminated by the person and the work of the one everlasting Redeemer; it is a "hope of eternal life," as based on Him. 2. A hope which is thus essentially religious, thus Christian from the root upwards, and impossible except on the terms of Christian belief, is strong enough to face all facts, even such as are unwelcome or austere. Certainly there will be temptations to unhopefulness; there must be the discipline of hopes deferred, of success marred, of apparent defeats and disappointments, of much that might tempt impatience to despair. A hope thus trained, while resting on august realities, is strong because it is not fanciful; it has realised the conditions of Christian life as an uphill march; it can afford to take full account of the gravest requirements of His service, who bids no one follow save where He Himself has trod; it does not dream of being exempt from anxieties, but it "casts" the whole weight of them on "the strong hand" of that good Father who has proved so well how much He "careth for us." 3. True hope is a great instrument of moral and spiritual discipline. When St. Peter is about to say, "make your hope perfect," he prefaces it with a call to sustained effort; we are to "gird up the loins of our mind." It is remarkable also that St. Paul does not merely exhort us to cherish hope, but to see that our hope is of the right kind, that it is such as is secured through endurance, and endurance as fortified by the encouragement, the quickening impulse to Christian exertion, which the pages of Scripture will supply (Romans 15:4). It is as if he had said, "The further you advance in the spiritual life, the more will you need of strength to resist temptation, or to bear outward trials bravely, brightly, and patiently; and the more you can do this, the more of true hope will you acquire." Thus we see that the hope which maketh not ashamed is always humble and always active. (W. Bright, D. D.)
I. THE DISCIPLINE NEEDED FOR CHRISTIAN HOPE. "Girding up the loins of your mind, be sober." Here are two practical injunctions, given as means towards a vigorous Christian hope. The first of these is too familiar to require many words. Girding up the loose garments was instinctively done before any kind of vigorous effort, whether it was pilgrimage, labour, or conflict. Elijah girded up his loins when he ran before Ahab's chariot. The soldier tightens his belt by another hole before the great struggle comes. The symbol, then, stands definitely here as expressing effort and concentration. There must be both, as Peter thinks, if there is to be any pulse of vitality throbbing under a Christian man's hope. And, says the apostle, thus making a concentrated effort to secure the vigour and clearness of hope, do another thing, "Be sober." Of course if I let my tastes, inclinations, desires, appetites, passions, run wild anywhere, there will be very little strength left me with which to hope for anything beyond. A man's mind is only capable of a given quantity of desire and expectation: and if he fritter it all away on the things seen and temporal, of course there will not be any left over for the things that are unseen. Every gardener knows that if he wants a tree to grow high he must pull off the side shoots, but if he likes to clip it at the top and take away the leader, it will grow nice and bushy down below. A man's mind obeys the same law. II. THE CHARACTERISTICS AND QUALITIES OF THIS CHRISTIAN HOPE. As you are aware, our A.V. gives one translation of part of this verse, and the R.V. gives another. "Hope to the end," says the older. "Hope perfectly," says the newer and the better rendering. What are the imperfections that attach to men's hopes? 1. The first glaring one which attaches to the world's idea of hope is that it is something short of, less reliable than, certainty. We have not sufficiently concentrated our effort, nor have we sufficiently washed our hands of earthly follies and filths, so long as there is one shade of difference between the certitude with which we know today and the confidence with which, trusting to Christ, we expect the remotest eternity in the most glorious heavens. 2. Then there is another imperfection from which it is our duty and our joy to be able to clear our Christian hope, and that is that men's hopes fluctuate according to their moods and their circumstances. But the Christian man's hope should have this for the very signature of its perfection, that it is altogether independent of the changes of external circumstances. Nay! rather it should be like the pillar of fire that was only a thin film of smoke while the sunshine blazed, but kindled at its heart as darkness fell, and in the murkiest night was brightest and most blessed. 3. Then there is another imperfection which the Christian hope is permitted to put away from it; and that is that most of our hopes have no ennobling, no staying, no stimulating effect upon our lives. What a man hopes for he waits for with patience, and the perfection of the Christian hope is measured roughly by. this, the extent to which it is fruitful of all lowly, persistent adherence the most uncongenial, common place, and smallest duties. III. THE OBJECT THAT IS HERE PROPOSES FOR HOPE. The apostle tells us to "hope for the grace," etc. There are three things we have to note here. 1. The loftiest hope of the furthest eternity is the hope of grace. We usually keep that word in contradistinction to glory as expressive of the gifts of God which we receive here upon earth in our pilgrimage. But the apostle here goes even deeper than that, and says, "Ah! it is all of a piece from the beginning to the end. The first gifts that a believing soul receives, whilst it is struggling here with darkness and light, are of the same sort as the eternal gifts that it receives when it stands before the throne, after millenniums of assimilation to the brightness and blessedness of Jesus Christ." They are all grace; the gifts of earth and heaven are one in their source and one in their nature. 2. Further, says the apostle, this grace is "being brought to you." The light that set out from the sun centuries ago has not reached some of the stars yet, but it is on the road. And the grace that is to be given to us has started from the throne, and it will be here presently. We are like men standing in the crowded streets of some royal city through which the king's procession has to pass. If we listened we have heard the guns fire that told that He had left the palace; and He will sweep in front of us and sweep us up into His train before very long. The grace is "being brought to us." 3. And it is being brought not merely at, but "in the revelation of Jesus Christ." "When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall we also be manifested together with Him in glory." The Christ in me will be manifested when Christ is manifested on His throne, and that will be my glory. If you can fancy a planet away out on the edge of our system, such as that one that welters in the fields of space, I know not how far from the central sun, and gets but a little portion of his light and warmth, and moves slowly in a torpid round; and imagine it laid hold of and borne right into the orbit of the planet next the sun, what a difference in its temperature, what a difference in the lustre and the light, what a difference in the swiftness of its motion there would be! We here are moving round a half-veiled Christ, and we get but little, and oh! we give less, of His light and glory. But the day comes when we shall be swept nearer the throne, and all the light that is manifested to us shall be incorporated within us. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
II. Hope in its OPERATION. 1. Hope is natural to the human mind, nothing more natural. It is a sweet-scented flower growing in every poor man's garden; a perennial flower, never blooming so exquisitely as in the midwinter of adversity. 2. "Hope perfectly." By this St. Peter probably means the same as St. Paul when the latter speaks of "the full assurance of hope," an unfaltering persuasion in the mind that we have a personal interest in the "inheritance reserved in heaven," "the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." "When I live," wrote Latimer to Ridley, "in a settled and steadfast assurance about the state of my soul, methinks I am as bold as a lion; I can laugh at all trouble; no affliction daunts me; but when I am eclipsed in my comforts I am of so fearful a spirit that I could run into a very mouse hole." Now, how to attain this perfection of hope, this full assurance? Evidently by constantly but legitimately exercising this grace according to the Divine word and testimony, for, like other things, it grows bright in use. 3. "Hope unto the end." Persevere in the face of difficulties, however colossal, "for he that continueth to the end shall be saved." Turn your face to the Sun, pitch your hope fixedly on the inheritance reserved for you up yonder, and the shadows will all fall behind you. III. Hope in its immutable FOUNDATION. 1. Our hope of salvation is based on Divine grace as brought to us in the past at the first revelation of Jesus Christ. 2. But not only has grace been brought to us in the past, but fresh supplies are being brought to us in the present. "The grace that is a-bringing, that is being brought to you, as the revelation of Jesus Christ." Grace came to the world in the person and work of Jesus Christ; it is still coming, a very present help in trouble, to God's people, whether that trouble be in the shape of sufferings or temptations. John Bunyan in his immortal dream beheld a fire which burnt on brightly notwithstanding all efforts to extinguish it. What was the explanation of this persistence? Oh, a man stood the other side of the wall continually pouring oil into it. "Hope perfectly, unto the end," for the gospel treasury of grace will never fail you. 3. But this hope looks forward to the future, to the final triumph of grace "at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Much grace has already been revealed; but eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered the heart of man the things God hath in store for His people. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
II. What, now, are THE OBJECTS SET BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN HOPE? "The grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Few of us ever think of this. When we speak of the grace that is revealed we think of what is already manifested, of Golgotha with its Cross, of Gethsemane with its agony. Peter is speaking of something future, not grace already manifested. "The grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Jesus Christ's Incarnation was not a revelation. His divinity was rather hidden within the veil of His humanity: only now and then the glory of that divinity shone forth. When Jesus was here He was in disguise. God was only feebly and faintly manifested in the flesh, which obscured the glory. But when Christ conies a second time, no longer to make a sin offering, but to bring full salvation unto His people, then will be the revelation of Jesus Christ. He will come like the King in His glory. All the grace that comes to you from the hour of your regeneration to the hour of your complete sanctification is nothing in comparison with the grace that is to be revealed to you by Christ in the day when you are presented, faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. III. In view of the glorious hopes that the Bible inspires." GIRDING UP THE LOINS OF YOUR MIND, BE SOBER, hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Let us mark these subordinate phrases: "Girding up the loins of your mind, be sober." That they may not be entangled in thorns and briars, or be defiled by the dust and the filth of the way. And so the apostle says, "Girding up the loins of your mind," your affections, so that they may not be defiled by earthly things. John Wesley used to say, "The child of God ought to be too proud to sin. When I think of myself as the disciple of Christ, born of the Spirit, I say, 'How can I sin against God?'" Set your affections on things above; gird up your loins, and keep your white garments "unspotted from the world." And then "be sober." Now, it would do a pilgrim very little good if he gathered up his garments and did not maintain sobriety. He might fall in the dust of the way, bruising himself as well as defiling his robe. And so we must not only gird ourselves, but keep sober and clear-minded for the journey. IV. WHAT A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE OBJECTS OF CHRISTIAN HOPE AND WORLDLY HOPE! Contrast the reality of Christian hopes with the illusiveness of worldly hopes. And consider, once more, the permanence and reliability of the Christian objects of desire and expectation. We come to a limit in this world. The glory of your possessions and your achievements will all pale and grow dim when you face the last great destroyer. But, blessed be God, the point at which human hopes are utterly blasted is the point at which Christian expectations only arrive at their consummation. What should we care for the perishing treasures of this world? for the evanescent pleasures that charm for a moment, and then lose their power? (A. T. Pierson, D. D.)
I. I SHALL POINT OUT THE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN HOPE AND FAITH. 1. Faith and hope differ as to their extent. Faith relates to all things which Almighty God has revealed in Scripture, bad as well as good; whereas hope has only to do with the good things of our Heavenly Father. 2. Again, hope may be described as ever looking forward, and advancing from one blessed prospect to another, with its eyes bent upon God and the promises. But faith has to do with the present and past, as well as with the future. With past facts. 3. Once more, there is this great difference between hope and faith; that faith has to do with certainty, hope with uncertainty. You believe with full assurance, and it is a matter of faith that the righteous go to heaven. But that you individually are righteous, and shall finally go to heaven, is the subject of hope. Now the absolute necessity of this grace in your hearts will be at once evident, if you consider that it would interest you but little to be told of the felicities of heaven, had you no hope of ever attaining them. When you read of kings of the earth, of their royal appearance and great wealth, you at once feel that these things interest you but slightly, because they are so utterly beyond your reach. II. Now, let us ILLUSTRATE THE FORCE AND POWER OF HOPE. Stories are told us of travellers journeying in other climes, who having wandered from their course, have by degrees found themselves involved in the intricacies of the wilderness without any probable chance of rescue. What so overwhelming as the feeling of utter loneliness which must press on the heart in the midst of unlimited sand? At such a time surely, a man may well give himself up as lost, and submissively lie down to perish. But there is a God beyond that sky and sun, Who has preserved men from worse dangers, and a hope springs up within his bosom, in the protection of that God. Hope cheers his soul, braces him to exertion, overcomes fatigue, and rescues from peril. He had no certainty of deliverance, but his hope was of sufficient power to make him persevere until he found the path, or was discovered by others and rescued. When the wife of the mariner sits at home solitary, what sustains her soul but the hope that all will be well? There can be no certain safety for him who is on the water; nothing, as we know, is so variable and treacherous as the waves and wind. When the prodigal child of God, like him in the parable, comes to himself and remembers his transgressions, what is to bring him to the feet of Almighty God but the hope of pardon? When the Christian soldier has taken his oath of service to Jesus Christ, and calmly considers the duties which are necessary to his reward, when he thinks of the enemies who encompass him, and of his own frailness and alienated affections, what can lead him to the contest and keep him undismayed? What but a sure and certain hope of Christ's continued assistance? Lastly: There is a moment, if possible more trying than all, when hope is the stay and anchor of the tossed soul. It is in that hour when even the most saintly may look forward with something of dread to the departure from earth. "In hope of eternal life, which God Who cannot lie promised before the world began"; my flesh, he thinks within himself, "shall rest in hope"; "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy, and at Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore." (J. M. Chaunter, M. A.)
(J. Howe.)
(J. B. Brown, B. A.)
II. NOTICE THE ENJOINED PERFECTION OF CHRISTIAN HOPE. What constitutes perfect hope? First, theft it shall be certain; and no earthly hope is so. If my anticipations are set upon contingent things they must vary with their objects. You cannot build a solid house on a quagmire; you must have rock for that. So, the only perfect hope is that which grasps a perfect certainty. Christian hope ought to be, if I might so say, screwed up to the level of that on which it is fastened. It is a shame that Christian people should be wavering in their anticipations of that which in itself is certain. Again, the perfection of hope lies in its being patient, persistent through discouragements, burning bright in the darkness, like a pillar of fire by night; and most of all in its being operative upon life, and contributing to steadfastness of endurance and to energy of effort. This is exactly what the feeble and fluctuating hopes of earth never do. For the more a man is living in anticipation of an uncertain good, the less is he able to fling himself with wholeness of purpose and effort into the duties or enjoyments of the present. But a perfect hope will be the ally and not the darkener of the brightness of the present. And if we hope as we should for that we see not, then shall we with patience wait for it. Here, then, is the sort of hope which it is laid upon us Christian people consciously to try to cherish, one which is fixed and certain, one which is the mother of patience and endurance, one which persists through, and triumphs over all trouble and sorrow, one which nerves us for effort and opens our eyes to appreciate the blessings of the present, and one which wars against all uncleanness, and lifts us up in aspiration and aim towards the purity of Jesus Christ. We are neglecting a plain duty and impoverishing ourselves unnecessarily by the want of a treasure which belongs to us, unless we are making conscious efforts for our increase in hope as in faith and charity. Think of the blessedness of living thus, lifted up above all the uncertainties that rack men when they think about tomorrow. Try to realise the blessedness of escaping from the disappointments which come from all earthward turned expectations. The brightest blaze of Christian hope may be on the verge of the darkness of the grave. III. Lastly, THE DISCIPLINE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE. "Gird up the loins of your mind." It suggests that there is a great deal in this life that makes it very difficult for us to keep firm hold of the facts, on which alone a perfect hope can be built. Unless we tighten up our belt, and so put all our strength into the effort, the truths of the resurrection which beget to a lively hope, of the great salvation wrought by Jesus Christ, of the meaning and end of all our trials and sorrows, will slip away from us, and we shall be left at the mercy of the varying anticipations of good or evil which may emerge from the varying circumstances of the fleeting moment. "Be sober." That means, not only gather yourselves together with a consecrated effort, but "keep your heel well down on the necks of lower and earthly desires." The fleshly lusts that belong to everybody must be subdued. That goes without saying. But, then, there are others more subtle, more refined, but not less hostile to the perfectness of a heaven-directed hope than are these grosser ones. We must keep down all the desires and appetites of our nature, both of the flesh and of the spirit. For we have only a certain quantity of energy to expend, and if we expend it upon the things of earth there is nothing left for the things above. If you take the river, and lead it all out into the gardens that are irrigated by it, or into the stream that drives your mills, its bed will be left bare, and little of the water will reach the great ocean which is its home. We may, if we will, be as certain of the future as of the past. We may, if we will, have a hope which maketh us not ashamed. We may have a great light burning steadily, like a lamp fed with abundant oil, and shielded from every wind. We may see His coming shining afar off, and be warranted in saying, not merely "we hope," but "we know, that when He shall appear we shall be like Him." This Christ-given hope is the only one that persists through calamity, old age, and death. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
1. For His own final and perfect glorification. 2. For the complete salvation and glorification of His Church. 3. For the full and everlasting destruction of His and its enemies. 4. For the vindication of God's way and the exhibition of His glorious attributes to the world. II. WHAT THE REVELATION BRINGS. Grace. The Lord keeps His best wine unto the last, but He certainly sets forth good wine even now. We may, and do, receive grace now. Now is the day of salvation. But with all the grace given now to believers, and notwithstanding its present variety, fulness, and freeness, and all that it does in Christ's people, they need yet more at His revelation. 1. The grace of perfect vision of Him who is now unseen. 2. The grace of perfect likeness to Christ. 3. The grace of perfect acquittal. 4. The grace of perfect avowal and recognition. 5. The grace of perfect joy and glory forever. III. WHAT INFLUENCE THIS REVELATION SHOULD NOW EXERT. 1. Spiritual readiness, in the loins of the mind girded, the thoughts collected, braced, prepared, and on the alert, with nothing left till the last (Luke 12:35, 36). 2. Spiritual self-restraint, in sobriety; neither too elated nor too depressed. 3. Perfect hope; desiring, picturing, expecting the revelation and what it brings; hoping perfectly, never letting go hope, though the day seems far off. (Alex. Warrack, M. A.)
1. As to deliverance from sin, shall not we be borne out by the experience of every believer, when we declare that it is his happiness to overcome sin, and his misery to be exposed to its assaults? If this corruption were wholly eradicated, he might continually walk in the shinings of the countenance of his Maker, and feel, so to speak, the fresh and free air of a better land circulating around him, as he passed on in his pilgrimage. So that all the interruptions of happiness are to be referred to sinfulness, and happiness becomes uniform, or rather, advances uniformly towards perfection, just in proportion as the sinfulness is subdued, and the whole man given over to a holy dominion. And if this be a correct account of a believer's experience, it will show us that grace and glory are one and the same. It is to the operations of grace that we must ascribe all the progress I have made in overcoming sinfulness; and if this progress b¢ the same as progress in happiness, we proclaim that to the operations of grace must be ascribed all the happiness which a believer attains. And if it would thus be perfect happiness to realise to the full the renewing power of grace, how can we better describe perfect happiness than by supposing grace given without measure, and acting without rival? And if, yet further, perfect happiness be one ingredient of future glory, is not the gift of grace the gift of glory, and does not St. Peter address himself to the highest and most rapturous imagination when he bids us "hope for grace at the revelation of Jesus Christ?" This will be yet clearer if you observe the period at which the grace will be received. The second advent of our Lord was unquestionably present to St. Peter's mind. It is on this grand consummation that apostles and holy men of old delight to linger, and from this that they fetch their motives and consolations. They well knew that whatever the happiness of separate spirits, however deep and beautiful their repose after the clang and din of warfare, there can be no perfection of felicity until the widowhood be over, and the soul dwell once more in the body. They looked for grace "at the revelation of Jesus Christ," because they knew with that revelation would come the resurrection of the saints, the body and soul both redeemed, both purified, both endowed with eternity. If, therefore, this consummation be glory, what is glory but grace completed? 2. We have thus far only treated of grace as producing deliverance from sin; but this is not the only achievement of grace; yet further we must consider it as consignment to the service of God. There are none but true Christians who at all fulfil the great end of their being, that of promoting the glory of their Maker; and it is not through the workings of any human principle that they propose to themselves so sublime an honour; there must have been an alienation of the affections, and a withdrawment of the heart from temporary interests. We know, indeed, that all things, wickedness as well as righteousness, one way or another, promote God's glory; but while the Almighty, in the exercise of His sovereignty, compels a tribute from the rebellious, that tribute is offered by none but the believer. It is, therefore, to grace, the principle imparted by God, that we ascribe every effort to promote God's glory; nothing can be presented to God which has not first been received from Him; according to the words of David — "All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee"; and if it be the direct result of the workings of grace that we are led to consecrate ourselves to the service of God, then let grace have unrestrained operation, and, dust and ashes though we be, should we not become ineffably glorious? It will not be the robe of light which shall make us glorious, though brighter threads than sunbeams shall be woven into its texture; it will not be the palm and the harp that shall make us glorious, though the one shall have grown on the trees of Paradise, and the other have been strung by the Mediator's hands; we shall be glorious as ministering to God's glory glorious as the servants of the Almighty — glorious with more than an angel's glory, because entrusted with more than an angel's commission. And, if this be our glory, poetry may give her music to what she counts more beautiful, anti painting its tints on more sparkling and captivating things, but Christianity, the scheme of human restoration, recognises no glory but the living to the glory of God. If this be glory, then where is the word which could describe glory so emphatically as grace? Grace is that which produces consecration to God's service, and therefore grace is nothing less than incipient glory. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
II. THE BLESSINGS WHICH RESULT TO BELIEVERS IN CONSEQUENCE OF THIS REVELATION. 1. By means of this revelation the kindness of God our Saviour to man is made known. 2. This revelation brings heaven to the view of believers, and assures them that they shall inherit that glory which is yet to be revealed. 3. This revelation teaches those who in consequence of receiving it have truly believed on the Son of God, that when He shall come again it will be to con summate their salvation. III. THE ENTIRE CONFIDENCE AND JOYOUS ANTICIPATION, WHICH IT BECOMES BELIEVERS CONSEQUENTLY TO INDULGE. 1. It is very important to Christians that they should indulge hope — that they should "perfectly hope." "We are saved by hope." 2. A firm foundation is laid for the exercise of perfect hope in the promises of God, ratified by the blood of the everlasting covenant, and confirmed by solemn oaths. (W. Temple.)
1. The first revelation of Him we call scriptural. This began very early, even in Paradise. There the Sun of righteousness dawned, and from thence shone more and more unto the perfect day. This exhibition of Him may be likened to a perfect portraiture of a most distinguished and endeared person age, at full length, rolled up on the side of a room, and which the owner gradually opens to the beholders, till the whole figure stands disclosed. 2. The second revelation of Him is incarnate. Thus He was not only declared but perceived. He appeared not in vision but in person. Not tremendously, as in the giving of the law, but familiarly, "clothed in a body like our own." Not transiently, as when He paid visits to His people of old, but by a continuance of three-and-thirty years — for "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us — full of grace and truth." 3. The third revelation of Him is spiritual. And we call it spiritual because it is produced by the Spirit of God in the spirit of man. It is expressed by sight; not a carnal sight of Him, but by the eye of faith. It is such an acquaintance with Him as draws forth our admiration, excites our love, gains our confidence, and secured our obedience. 4. The fourth revelation of Him is glorious. After all He is now much concealed. There are millions who know nothing even of His existence. Even where He is professedly known, there are multitudes to whom He has no form or comeliness, nor any beauty, that they should desire Him. But Christians are relieved and cheered with the thought that it will not be so always. But what is to be expected at the revelation of Jesus Christ? "The grace that is to be brought unto you."Two inquiries may here arise — 1. What does "the grace" here spoken of mean? It comprehends the fulness of the promise, "I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." His invitation, "Come, ye blessed of My Father." 2. But why is it called grace? Why is it not said, "The glory that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ"? (1) (2) (W. Jay.)
2. Because as Christians we are the redeemed of Jesus Christ, and consequently the property of God. Everything in the gospel teaches obedience. II. HOW MUST WE OBEY? God will not be served by mercenaries nor by slaves. Who then will serve Him? The apostle answers, children. III. WHAT INFLUENCE DOES THIS OBEDIENCE EXERT OVER OUR LIFE? Action is but a part of obedience; to suffer is another. For many it is the larger part; for all it is the most difficult. Walking, speaking, working are to us means of obedience. 1. Some complain at being obliged to obey, and rebel. Direct them to Nazareth, to Gethsemane, to Calvary. 2. Some apparently accept the yoke of the Lord, but reserve to themselves the right of obeying in their way. Under the cover of Divine will they accomplish their own designs. 3. Some wait till an inward impulse moves them to obedience. If it does not act they do not obey at all. In obeying at first passively and without joy, their obedience would soon, under Divine blessing, be transformed into a joyous doing of His will. One word to such as do not yet possess the truth. If they ask me what is the best way of obtaining faith, I will not hesitate to answer, "Obey!" (E. Bersier, D. D.)
2. We must not, on the other side, run without our errand, nor do things whereof we have no commandment; this is no obedience, be it never so costly or painful, have it never so goodly a show (Jeremiah 7:31). 3. Moreover, we must obey the commandment of the Lord, be it never so strange, harsh, unpleasing, or contrary to custom, though all the world counsel to the contrary. 4. We must obey without reasoning the case, or consulting with flesh and blood: we must bind reason hand and foot to follow God (as it were) blindfold, as Abraham offering Isaac, and Joshua compassing Jericho. 5. We must obey, whosoever or whatever be against it. If profits, pleasure, farm, oxen, etc., call us away, and God invite us, we must follow Him, else we have no part in Him. 6. Speedily, not hereafter, but today. 7. Voluntarily, not be haled only by pain and misery. God loves a cheerful servant. 8. Constantly, not for a while only. Reasons hereof. (1) (2) (3) (John Rogers.)
(Canon Liddon.)
I. THAT CHRISTIAN HOPE AND CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE ARE INSEPARABLE COMPANIONS. The mark of a son is to obey. And obedience means not merely doing what we are bid, but being glad to be bidden to do it; and it means not merely the active submission of will to the loving command of the Father, but also the quiet acceptance of and bowing of the will to the wise appointments of that Father. So it is the exact opposite of that temper and attitude which are characteristic of the godless world which makes self and its own will its law. There are the two courses of life, obedience or rebellion; and there is no middle point. Does our obedience cover the whole ground — of action and of surrender and submission? Such obedience can never be parted from the great Christian hope. Hope will produce obedience. Now, many professing Christians are a great deal stronger in the department of devout emotion than in that of practical righteousness. I should like all these people who find it so good to feed their souls on the meditation and anticipation of future blessedness to notice how, as in one volume, Peter binds up the two things that they keep so distinctly apart, and how emphatically he affirms that, if we have any genuine Christian hope, it will have its effect in helping us, as children of obedience, to do and to accept all our Father's will. There we come down to a very plain practical test. But, then, these two things which the Apostle thus couples by an iron band have a reciprocal action. They work upon each other; in fact, they are the outside and the inside of the same thing; but we may look at them as being different. Just as strong hope will produce obedience, so true obedience will nourish and strengthen hope. For a little sin will go much further towards obscuring and shattering a Christian man's hope than a great sorrow will. It is comparatively easy to keep up the temper of joyous anticipation of the future in the midst of the darkness of a present experience; but it is absolutely impossible for a man, at one and the same time, to be rebelling in heart and act against the will of God and to be entertaining and recreating his soul by the bright hope of a future heaven. No Christian man's hope will last through a sin. Therefore obedience and hope must co-exist and feed one another. II. THAT HOPE, FED BY AND FEEDING OBEDIENCE, SHOULD CHANGE US FROM THE LIKENESS OF OUR FORMER SELVES. "Not fashioning yourselves according to the former in your ignorance" — that may be said to all people who have been brought out of the darkness into the light. It is but an uncertain light, or twilight mainly, at the best, that shines upon the mysteries of human life and duty, until the sunshine of God, manifested in Jesus Christ, rises and is welcomed by our hearts. So, then, non-Christian living is, in a profound sense, ignorance; and in the ignorance, just as the wild beasts of the forest go forth in the dark and are nocturnal in their habits if they are predatory, so the lusts that war against our souls expatiate and hunt and find their prey in the darkness. But, says Peter, if, hoping, you are obedient, and obedient you hope, then there will be a process of transformation going on in you. But in a world like this, and with creatures like us, unless a man has learnt not to do wrong, there is little chance of his doing right. The evil that we have to fight against is in possession, and we have to turn it out. A large part of all practical morality, Christian or not, consists in negative precepts; and the very heart and centre, in one aspect, of Christian duty lies here; self-denial, self-suppression, self-crucifixion. You have to put off the old self as part of the process of putting on the new. I press this upon you, "not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts, in your ignorance." And that will be a life-long task. For nobody knows how, like a cuttlefish, holding on to its prey by the suckers upon its arm, his evil habits cling to him, until he have tried to fling away the loathly thing that prevents him from freely using his limbs. "Hope?" Yes! "Obey?" Yes! and that you may crucify the old man with his deeds, and put off the garments spotted by the flesh, that you may put on the "fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of saints." III. Lastly, THIS OBEDIENCE AND HOPE SHOULD CHANGE US INTO THE LIKENESS OF THE FATHER. If we are children we have the Father's life in us; and we ought to have the Father's likeness. This is the great aim that we have to set before ourselves. And oh! what an aim it is. Nothing less august than absolute perfection is worthy to be the goal of a soul. How different it is to say, Try to be like God as you haw learned to know Him in Jesus Christ, from what it is to say, "Try to be up to the ideal of humanity"; "try to cultivate a pure morality"; "be true to yourselves," and all those other sayings, noble in their way and to a certain extent, which people who turn away from Christianity try to set up as substitutes for its morality. They are all hard and icy; and no kind of inspiration comes out of them. "Be ye perfect. as your Father in heaven is perfect," the ideal lives; the ideal loves, Yes! and more; the ideal is our Father, and so He will make His child like Himself. And that fashioning ourselves like our Father, if it does not precede obedience to the negative precept, must at all events be carried on simultaneously with it. It is a fatal mistake to try simply to obey the negative precept unless we aim along with it at obedience to the positive one. The more we come close to Him the further we withdraw from earth and evil. But notice how hope animates the effort at becoming like God. He is "the Holy One which called you." Well, then, if He has called us to be holy, it will not be in vain that we shall try to be so. And unless we have this "hope of His calling," sure I am that we shall never earnestly and successfully aim at being like Him. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
(W. L. Watkinson.)
(John Rogers.)
(G. F. C. Frau Muller, Ph. D.)
1. It may be the Holy Ghost doth of purpose do it to aggravate the hatefulness of the sin because men use to excuse it and make light of it. 2. Because it is a sin none are free from. If he had named whoredom, or drunkenness, etc., many unregenerate men would have pleaded not guilty. 3. This sin serves more to reproach the rebellious nature of man. It was the knowledge of good and evil that Adam so much aspired unto, and lo, now, he and all his were set in gross ignorance. 4. Because ignorance is the mother and nurse of all sorts of sins (Ephesians 4:18; 2 Peter 2:12; Psalm 36:2, 3, 4). But have unregenerate men no knowledge? Yes, they have some knowledge, for they are wise to do evil, and they may have great learning in arts and sciences; but yet they are justly taxed with ignorance because they know not God as a Father by the light of faith, nor Christ Jesus whom He hath sent; and besides, they have no desire to know their own iniquities or the way how to reform their own lives; they have no knowledge to do good. II. These things being thus resolved, there are DIVERS OBSERVATIONS TO BE NOTED FROM HENCE. 1. That a true convert must make conscience of inward sins, as well as outward; of defects as well as evil desires or lusts, as here of ignorance as well as of wicked thoughts. The same God that saith, "How long shall thy evil thoughts abide in thee?" complains also of ignorance (Isaiah 1:3). 2. That ignorance is no small sin; it is exceeding hateful to God; contrary to doctrine of those that say it is the mother of devotion. 3. That without reformation of ignorance we cannot be truly turned to God; without knowledge the mind is not good; therefore, to tear the veil is one part of God's work in our conversion (Proverbs 19:3; Isaiah 25:8). 4. That ignorance is wanton and full of lust (Ephesians 4:18). 5. That the way to be rid of lusts is to be rid of ignorance. For saving knowledge keeps us from sin (James 3:17). Here we may see the principal use we should put our knowledge to, viz., to cleanse our hearts of base thoughts and desires. 6. That we may live in places of great means for knowledge and yet be grossly ignorant. For he writeth here to the Jews, who had the law and the prophets, and the oracles of God and the priests, etc. 7. That all knowledge or learning without the knowledge of God's favour in Christ, and the way how to reform our own lives, is but foolish ignorance. 8. That habitual lusts are a sure sign of ignorance, whatsoever knowledge men pretend. III. Lastly, SEEING THERE IS IGNORANCE EVEN IN THE CHILDREN OF GOD AFTER CALLING, WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF UNREGENERATE IGNORANCE? 1. It hardens the heart and works a continued evil disposition to sin with greediness (Ephesians 4:11, 18). Now the ignorance in the godly may be where the heart is softened and the overflowings of corruption stopped. 2. It hoodwinketh the soul in the main things needful to salvation, as the knowledge of a man's own iniquities, God in Christ, the forgiveness of a man's own sins, and generally all the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). A wicked man may discern spiritual things carnally, but not spiritually. 3. It hath never been in the furnace of mortification; it hath never been truly repented of, whereas the ignorance of the godly hath often been confessed, mourned for, etc. 4. It will suffer no saving grace to neighbour by it; where ignorance hath not been repented of, there no fear of God, no holy contemplation, no uprightness, love of God, or His Word, or His people, will dwell. Now the ignorance that is in God's children is well neighboured with many holy graces that can dwell by it. And as these ignorances differ in nature and working, so they differ in imputation. For unto the godly there is a sacrifice for ignorance. God doth not impute ignorance unto the godly: it shall be to them according to what they know, and not according to what they know not. (N. Byfield.)
(John Rogers.)
(W. Arnot.)
1. This serves to rebuke those that will yield in some things only. What is it if a man be not covetous, if he be proud, or unclean, etc.? Some will yield in great matters, but in small do as they list; as to swear by their faith and troth, especially in that which is true, talk vain a little, put a little false ware, deceive a little, etc. Some again will yield in all small matters, but in some great thing they will not; as to give all diligence to increase in every grace, and that no corrupt communication should come out of their mouths; though thou hast spoken many good words, yet hadst thou better be silent than have no more good to speak. Some in adversity will be very humble, good words, golden promises, but in prosperity nothing so. Some use their superiors well, their poor tenants or work folks hardly. Alas, there is no part of our life, wherein God gives any license to do evil; in our particular callings let us show the truth of our Christianity. 2. Let us prove the truth of holiness in us by the generality of it; keep a constant tenour, an even hand, and let there be a proportion between every part of our life, not one part, as it were, devout, another profane and wicked. (John Rogers.)
I. Here, negatively, LET US NOTE WHAT IT IS NOT AND CANNOT BE. 1. For one thing, it clearly is not, it cannot be, mere innocence, the innocence of one ignorant of evil, or of one who knows evil only by report, or of one who knows it only as a possibility, by a prohibitory enactment with a penalty attached to it. 2. Neither is it enough that it should be a holiness consisting merely of enforced abstinence from evil, or of such outward compliance with good as a sense of dire necessity and a dread of unpleasant consequences may produce. 3. Nor even can it be such painful discipline of self-restraint, self-denial, self-mortification, as may spring from better and more respectable motives — sometimes from motives of deep religious earnest ness. 4. For, as to its essential character, our holiness, if it is to be like the holiness of God, must, at the very outset, pass out of the region of the merely negative, which implies a continual struggle to dethrone a tyrant, into the region of the positive, which is realised in our acknowledgment of Him who buys us to be His freedmen. 5. For, finally, it is indeed now a new influence, a fresh and new power. II. THE POSITIVE ASPECT OF THE GRACE IN QUESTION — how, in that changed aspect of affairs, with our new mind towards God, as connected with His new mind towards us, may His holiness thus purely and simply bear upon us? How otherwise than by our being made partakers of His holiness, in such a sense and to such an effect that we do now really become "as God, knowing good and evil"? We know evil as God knows it; because we know good as God knows it. For we are partakers of "the Divine nature," through our faith in "God's exceeding great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4). We are thus "partakers of His holiness" (Hebrews 12:10). (R. S. Candlish, D. D.)
1. The nature of holiness. 2. Its different stages and degrees. 3. Its objects. 4. Its effects. II. CONSIDER THE MOTIVE. 1. God is holy, and therefore without holiness we cannot be like Him. 2. God is holy, and therefore those only who are so can truly serve Him. 3. God is holy, and without holiness it is impossible to please Him in anything we do. 4. God is holy, and unless we be so too, we cannot be owned or acknowledged by Him. 5. God is holy, and we must be holy in order to enjoy Him. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
1. In their unregenerate state men always fashion themselves after the pattern of their lusts or inward sinful desires. 2. The power of evil, however, though not expelled, is dethroned in the believer's heart, and the principle of dutiful obedience takes its place. God's people — ideal, and to a certain extent actual, people — are emphatically the "children of obedience."(1) This implies for one thing that they inwardly approve the Divine law, that they love God's commandments. It is not a law they would alter if they could.(2) Obedience, however, contains another element, namely, that the mind throws itself actively and energetically into the duties prescribed. II. Holiness in the LIFE, or as it widens out over the whole area of conduct. "As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." 1. This enjoins holiness in all our thinking and reading. 2. Holiness should also be observed in all your conversation, in the modern sense of the word. "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt."(1) On the one hand, you must renounce filthy and blasphemous language.(2) But as you should avoid evil communications, so, on the other hand, your speech should be such as to cause grace in the hearers. We do not faithfully mirror the Divine holiness when we foul each other's character. 3. Christian holiness, furthermore, extends to our acts as well as to our words and thoughts. "Be ye holy in all manner of conversation." Christianity influences the whole area of life private and public; it is commensurate with our existence. III. Holiness in its STANDARD. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." 1. Why is holiness a virtue, and therefore required of us? The Bible answer is, Because God is holy. The essence of God — that is to say, that which makes God to be God — is His infinite holiness and infinite love. Hence the Bible continually summons men to holiness; not to learning or culture, but to holiness, for only in holiness and love can we resemble our Maker. By growing in other things, however much to be coveted in themselves, we do not grow in likeness to our Maker. 2. In the text God is styled "He that called you." And His "calling" imposes a fresh obligation upon you. You are called by God — to what? To holiness, "to show forth the virtues of Him that called you." If you seek not holiness, you overlook the very purpose of your separation from the world and your incorporation into the Church. Your "call" has been in vain. 3. As the ground of our holiness is in God, so the standard of our holiness, that to which it is to grow, is the holiness of God. "Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." Infinite holiness surely presents a standard lofty enough. Christianity in the morality, the holiness, it demands can never be outdone. One argument Herbert Spencer urges against it is that the standard of character it offers for our imitation is too high. Observe that the objection carries in it a homage to the pure ethics of the Teacher of Nazareth. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
II. THE FIELD OF THIS GODLIKE HOLINESS. Here is no cloistered and ascetic holiness which taboos large provinces of every man's experience, and says "we must not go in there, for fear of losing our purity," but rather wherever Christ has trod before we can go. That is a safe guide, and what ever God has appointed there we can go and that we can do. "In all manner of conversation." There is nothing so minute but it is big enough to mirror the holiness of God. The tiniest grain of mica, upon the face of the hill, is large enough to flash back a beam; and the smallest thing we can do is big enough to hold the bright light of holiness. III. THE MOTIVE OR INSPIRATION OF HOLINESS. Peter would stir his hearers to the emulation of the Divine holiness by that thought of the bond that unites Him and them. "He hath called you." In which word, I suppose, he includes the whole sum of the Divine operations which have resulted in the placing of each of his auditors within the circle of the Christian community as the subjects of Christ's grace, and not only the one definite act to which the theologians attach the name of "calling." In the briefest possible way we may put the motive thus — the inspiration of imitation is to be found in the contemplation of the gifts of God. And not only so, but in this thought of the Divine calling there lies a fountain of inspiration when we remember the purpose of the calling. As Paul puts it in one of his letters: "God has not called us to uncleanness but to holiness." And so, if in addition to the fact of His "gift and calling" and all that is included within it, if in addition to the purpose of that calling we further think of the relation between us and Him which results from it, so as that we, as the next verse says, call Him who hath called us, "Our Father," then the motive becomes deeper and more blessed still. Shall we not try to be like the Father of our spirits, and seek for His grace, to bear the likeness of sons? (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
II. THE TRUE EXTENT AND PROPER LIMITATIONS OF THIS DUTY. 1. All imitation of God must be understood to be an imitation of His moral attributes only, and not of His natural ones. 2. Even in these moral excellencies it is evident further that it must necessarily mean an imitation of likeness only, and not of equality. 3. Yet ought we also to consider that even in the degrees of goodness it is our duty continually to improve. A perfect example is set before us that aiming always at that, we may make a perpetual progress in the ways of virtue.Conclusion: 1. If true religion consists in the imitation of God, and all imitation of God is of necessity confined to His moral perfections only, then it hence evidently follows that moral virtue is the chief end of religion, and that to place the main stress of religion in anything else besides true virtue is superstition. 2. If true religion consists in the imitation of God, and that which is imitable in God be His moral perfections, hence it follows necessarily that moral excellences, justice, goodness, truth, and the like, are of the same kind in God as in men. 3. From hence it appears of how great importance it is to men to frame to themselves right and worthy notions of God. For such as are the conceptions men have of the object of their worship, such also will proportionably be their own behaviour and practice. (S. Clarke, D. D.)
II. ITS IMPLIED ATTAINABILITY. No character ever appeared in history so imitable as the character of Christ. He is the most imitable character — First: Who has the most power to command admiration — the admiration of the soul. Secondly: Who is the most transparent in character. Thirdly: Who is the most unalterable in purpose. Therefore follow Him. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
(A. Grant, D. C. L.)
I. BECAUSE HOLINESS IS THAT IDEA OF HIMSELF WHICH GOD IS MOST INTENT UPON COMMUNICATING TO MAN. II. EVERY OTHER MORAL CONCEPTION THAT YOU CAN FORM OF GOD WHEN YOU ANALYSE IT WILL CARRY YOU BACK TO THE FUNDAMENTAL THOUGHT THAT GOD IS A HOLY BEING. He is said to be good. Goodness, if you analyse it, will bring you back to the idea of doing that only which is pure and fit and just and right. III. THE RELATION WHICH SUBSISTS BETWEEN MAN AND GOD MAKES IT INDISPENSABLE THAT MAN SHOULD BE HOLY, OR PURE IN HIS PURPOSE, and this for several reasons. The Scriptures inquire, "How can two walk together, except they be agreed?" What harmony can there be between light and darkness, good and evil, right and wrong, purity and impurity, sin and holiness? Two persons may be most strongly attached where one supplements the other. So, even in the marriage relation, absolute identity of tastes is not always essential to the highest happiness; but, while there may be the supplementing of one with the other, if there be antagonism, there can he no sympathy or union. So that, if we are expecting to be accounted the children of God, there must be sympathy, truth, identity. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
I. The argument at the outset sounds like an argument basing itself upon THE AUTHORITY WHICH TAKES ITS RISE IN SUPREME AND BOUNDLESS POWER. The Divine Speaker seems to assume unlimited proprietorship over us because He imparts life and determines all the outward conditions under which life maintains itself. Now a Jew would have submitted himself at once. We, however, are disposed to go a little further into the subject than that, and ask, "Does mere power, however gigantic its scale, create obligation"? It is our privilege to live after the French Revolution, and we are not disposed to submit to superior power for the simple reason that it is superior power. For God to bind upon us the law of His personal life because He is stronger than we is surely not unlike Fate trying to vanquish Prometheus bound to the rock in the Caucasus. Well, whilst usurped power can bring no sanction with it, if the power be original, creative, unlimited in time and space, it does bring essential obligation in its train. God does not want our conformity to His pattern because His power out powers other types of power, but because it is spontaneous, eternal, and a part of Himself. He whose breath brings the secret of life, whose word makes every wavelet of sunshine or starlight that visits the eye, every atom of air that sweetens and vitalises the blood, whose hand prepares the foundation upon which all life rests, and strikes the blow which brings our truest enfranchisements, has the right to bind men by His pattern. The rights of all fatherhoods, the prerogatives of all crowns and thrones and sovereignties, the sanctions of all law and ethic speak in this imperative "Be ye holy, for I am holy." II. The authority that here addresses us is not that of supreme power only, but also of ABSOLVE LOVELINESS AND PERFECTION. In bidding us be like Himself God is bidding us be like that we most esteem, for has He not captivated the entire range of our reverence and admiration? The crown of supremacy belongs to God, not by an arbitrary coronation act, but by His own inherent fitness to wear it. We must set ourselves to copy that which we irresistibly worship. The musician whose soul has been visited by dream-like melodies from other worlds, is bound to so group his notes as to realise, for those to whom he sings, the mystic enchantments that have smitten his own soul with wonder. The painter to whose inner sense the subtle charm and secret of glowing sky, or flowered landscape, or fretting sea, has made itself known, is bound to suggest, as far as the play of colours will do it, the magnificent vision that has possessed his own imagination. All admirations have as their very core and essence the force of a vast moral constraint; and if God be the best of which we can think, or reason, or dream, if He has conquered all our moral admirations, if He is the loftiest pattern a quick and healthy and highly stimulated conscience can conceive, we are bound to copy Him. The highest form of worship is imitation. The trisagion of the cherubim, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts," confesses the law under which earth and heaven alike are placed to be like God. I need not remind you how in His pattern prayer Christ makes us subscribe to the principle whose gracious operation and benefit we need for ourselves — "Our Father, which art in heaven." Where there is fatherhood there is sonship and its duties, the first of which is to copy the qualities of the highest fatherhood. As we confess the Divine perfection the voice of unfailing response comes back in reply to our homage, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." III. These words are an argument from THE AFFINITIES AND SIMILITUDES OF THE DIVINE AND HUMAN NATURES. God's nature is the archetype of ours. What does it mean when it is said we are "made in God's image" and quickened to life with God's breath, but that God has put within us the rudiments of His own holiness? The power to grow like God is implanted in man at the very beginning. There is a long-buried seed of spiritual excellence in him, old as his dim origins, which the processes of grace are destined to awaken and perfectly fructify. And to give us further assurance on the subject we are not only reminded of that image whose faint outlines and affinities we still bear, but we are told that this high and holy One has made Himself in our image. The correspondences are guaranteed from two standpoints. He has lived out His perfect life in an environment that is one with our own. In the person of His spotless and eternal Son, God has bowed Himself to the most abject conditions of our life, giving us a vision of that we are charged to copy, notwithstanding the strain of fierce and varied temptations. The grace that surrounds us on every side enters our natures and tends to produce there a reflection of the Holy One who has been our Friend and Saviour. In one of his books Mr. Ruskin says: "Some years ago a young Scotch student came to put himself under me, having taken many prizes justly with respect to the qualities looked for by the judges in various schools of art. He worked under me very earnestly and patiently for a time, and I was able to praise his doings in what I thought very high terms. Nevertheless there always remained a look of mortification on his face after he had been praised, however unqualifiedly. At last he could hold no longer, but one day when I had been more than usually complimentary, turned to me with an anxious yet not unconfident expression, and asked, 'Do you think, sir, that I shall ever draw as well as Turner?' I paused for a second or two, being much taken aback, and then answered, 'It is more likely you should be made emperor of all the Russias. There is a new emperor every fifteen or twenty years on an average, and by strange hap and fortunate cabal any body might be made emperor. But there is only one Turner in five hundred years, and God decides without any admission of auxiliary cabal what piece of clay his soul is to be put into.'" Come with your largest aspirations to the feet of Jesus Christ, and you may count upon a very different answer from that. "I am the 'Firstborn amongst many brethren,' and you shall be like Me, and shall realise the very qualities of Him whose manifestation I am. Trust Me, and go forward at My word, for you may be merciful and holy and perfect as the One in whose image you are made. The seed of the forgotten possibility is still in you, and I come to quicken that seed again, and in that quickening to bestow all spiritual grace and perfection. Yours is the very clay into which God determines to put His eternal ideal." IV. The argument is an argument from THE LIVING CONTACT AND MYSTIC IMMANENCY OF THE MOST HIGH HIMSELF. The very self-same energy that makes God holy dwells in us and blends itself with our life. The very motive which determines God's eternal and unspotted life of blessedness comes to infix itself in us. The power of God's personal holiness, with all its magnificent achievements, lends itself to us for our perfecting. 1. God comes very near to every man who wants to copy His personal perfection, and the reason He seems far off from some is that they have never been inspired with the desire to emulate His character. He is a model who lends Himself to the most intimate handling of reverential natures, and to the closest study of all who love Him and desire to conform themselves to His spiritual similitude. 2. God is not only accessible, but He has the art of imparting Himself to those who seek Him in sincerity and love. If we may use the term without irreverence, He is the most magnetic being in the universe, inspiring those about Him with His own thought and love and sacred spiritual ardour. He is ever ready to make known His deepest secret to us. 3. He comes also to dwell within us, and inform our nature with His hourly inspirations. And if God be in us, the imitation of God is not an extravagant or fantastic hope. And so our obligation is not measured by what we are in ourselves, but by those new ranges and outbursts of energy the Holy Spirit brings into our natures. His forces must be added to our own; the marvellous possibilities arising out of His inhabitation of human souls, the capacity attainable through His infinite and unfaltering succours, must be discerned and brought into the estimate if we would know the sum of oar obligation, the breadth of the law under which we are placed, the lofty standard we are summoned to reach. To be like God is a costly thing, involving stern self-abnegation, and the strenuous application of all that is within you to one end. Well, is God's holiness a cheap and easy and self-indulgent thing? Did it not cost Him the most cherished treasure of His universe to exercise that holiness and compassionate an offending race? It is only by the renunciation of self that you can begin, however faintly, to be like God. (T. G. Selby.)
1. First of all, I feel there are a great force and beauty in the terms the writer employs: "Not fashioning yourselves according to your former desires, in your ignorance." The idea is that of constructing the outward form of your life according to the inward scheme you have formed of it. And so, again, when he says, "Be ye holy in all manner of conversation," it means, in every turn of your conduct, in deeds as well as words; let your outcoming be according to the perfect law of your nature. Words, actions, are simply the covering, habitation, exuded from one's soul which shows clearly what the soul is — its character, tone, refinement, thought, feeling, purposes, life. Every instant we are thus giving out from ourselves and proclaiming to those who are by us what we are. And when I say this, I do not forget that a great deal of what we say and do is done according to custom and etiquette of the set of people amongst whom we live. Very few live according to the pure, free, spontaneous impulses of their own nature. But, then, it must be remembered that these social usages of thought and expression have entered into and become a part of our inner being before they get themselves outwardly observed by us. You mingle, for example, with coarse people; their coarseness, sooner or later, consciously or unconsciously, insinuates itself into your soul; then you fall into coarse ways; that is, the coarseness your soul has grown into, comes out in coarse words and manners. Or, let us hope, you associate with refined people; the influences of their refinement purify your soul, and it, too, becomes refined; the manners, morals, modes of life which you henceforth exhibit become, of necessity, the expression of that refinement. A noble soul puts its nobleness into the smaller acts of its life as well as into the greatest: two sentences will disclose the want of order in an illogical mind; Divine love radiates its tenderness through the simplest expression; the pure soul indicates its purity by the kind of its response to purity and coarseness, as the thermometer responds to heat and cold. The only way of being good, pure, noble, holy in the high Anglo-Saxon sense of the word, is to have the soul filled with truth and goodness, and then act from the inward impulses freely. Schematise, fashion your outward life by the plastic energy of your own soul. 2. Secondly, I think this text intimates the progressive character of holiness in each individual. A past and a future are referred to; the present is the transition point from the one to the other. In the past, the outward life was fashioned by ignorance, or rather, in ignorance; now, knowledge is to take its place, and a higher ideal is to give the model of the conversation. Yet, observe, as much as the writer supposes his hearers to have risen above that former state, it was one of comparative evil rather than of positive — of privative knowledge rather than absolute ignorance. However high the attainments of today, and however pure the life of today may seem, when the higher knowledge and life of tomorrow come, we shall look back upon all we have attained today, as today we look back upon what we were yesterday. The youth at sixteen or seventeen thinks himself a man, and laughs at the childishness of ten years ago. When he has grown to forty or fifty years he will look back upon his present age as that of his boyhood. And so it always happens that our past seems to us folly, weakness, evil, in the light of the grace we have now reached. But that just leads the thoughtful to see how the past belongs to the present, and forms an essential part of it, containing within itself the rudiments of all that is truest and best in us now. 3. But thirdly, we have here given to us the primal condition of this increasing holiness; namely, the setting before us of a perfect ideal. As He calling you is the holy One, be ye holy in all forms and turns of your life, for it is written, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Now, you will observe, this is quite accordant with all I have said about the holiness being dependent upon, not an outward rule, but an inward principle. For, although correctly, God is set before us as the pattern, type or object with which we are to conform ourselves in holiness, yet, clearly, it is not God existing outwardly and beyond ourselves, but as He is known to, and conceived in our own minds. The outward revelation of God must be construed to the mind in the .form of its own ideas, before it can possibly produce the least spiritual effect upon the soul. And that is true, whether the revelation be given in nature or in books. And now, consider a little the principle that it is the forming of higher ideals which is the one primal condition of progress in holiness. You can never rise above your own thoughts, that is certain. There is nothing which you have out of which anything higher and better could come; you are kept down to that level by a law harder than fate. Ex nihilo nihil fit. Blessed are those who can realise their thoughts to the full! For, whilst it is true that we cannot rise higher than our ideals, our thoughts, it is not true that we can always rise as high. The reverse is the truth. We never can shape the material on which we work so readily as we shape our thoughts. The thing done is never so true and good and beautiful as the idea we had of it. Sometimes the fault lies in the unshapeable, unplastic materials. More often with the untrained, disobedient hand, or other powers with which we do the work. What Divine songs our fancies, for instance, sometimes sing, and how they get never sung by the unmanageable organs of speech! What fame some artists would have, if the hand could but create the idealised picture or sculpture! And all this is still more true of the moral qualities of things, for in them we meet with more hindrances to realisation. We picture goodness, which a little passing appetite is strong enough to mar in operation, We idealise justice, and the chance of some palpable advantage causes the idea to get sadly distorted when it comes out in deeds. Wonderful and mysterious is that plastic power of the soul! as it thinks of Divine things it becomes Divine, and forthwith the divineness spreads through words and deeds; and although in spreading the divineness becomes diffused, attenuated, yet it is divineness still, which, radiating through, glorifies the character, and, in proportion to the fulness of the original thought, renders the outward life Divine. Wonderful power! mirroring Thine, great Father, Thou supernal power of all, who clothest Thyself with this universe wrought out of Thine eternal ideas — ever energising the forms of beauty and life we dimly see around — dimly see, because not for us, the finite, is it to comprehend Thine infinite thoughts. But as we comprehend and rise in our conceptions of Him — as more and more our souls conceive truly and fully goodness, love, the perfect life to which we are called and of which we are capable — it issues forth into the "conversation," the character, the moulding and turning of words and deeds; and we become holy as the Holy One is holy. (James Cranbrook.)
1. Holiness does not consist in bodily austerities, or in ritual observances. This view of it has widely prevailed among men; for it is the natural result of that dislike of true holiness by which they are universally characterised, when associated with the conviction that holiness of some kind is indispensable with their acceptance with God. 2. Holiness has been identified with mere external morality. This defective view of it prevails among the worldly minded, as the false view already considered is cherished and acted on by the superstitious. 3. In what, then, does true holiness consist?(1) The words of God, "Be ye holy, for I am holy," obviously imply that holiness consists in resemblance to God, or in conformity to His moral character. God is holy — infinitely and unchangeably holy.(2) Though holiness consists in resemblance to God, something more specific than the mere statement of this truth is requisite to give you a clear conception of its nature. In order to this, you must not only know how God thinks and feels and acts; but, seeing that the position which you occupy as creatures is widely different from that which belongs to Him as the Creator, and different, too, in many respects from that which is occupied by other creatures whose nature is dissimilar to that of man, you must be able to apply your knowledge of the thoughts and sentiments and conduct of God to your own condition and circumstances. The means of doing so has been provided; for His law — under which term in this statement the whole revelation of His will respecting human duty, contained in Scripture, must be regarded as included — is an expression of His own excellence, a declaration of the manner in which the moral perfections that compose His character must operate when communicated to creatures who sustain the relations to Him and to one another which are sustained by you.(3) But the intimation that the likeness to God which constitutes true holiness denotes conformity in heart and life to His revealed wilt, is not all that is necessary to enable you to form a clear and accurate conception of the nature of holiness. You must be aware of what is implied in conformity to the Divine law. It contains both prohibitions and commands; it tells you both what you should shun, and what you ought to do. Now, the injunction, "Be ye holy," requires conformity to the law of God in both these departments; and none but he who hates and avoids whatever it condemns and forbids, and who loves and practises whatever it commends and enjoins, is a holy person. II. HOLINESS: WHY SHOULD WE SEEK IT? 1. You should seek holiness as an appropriate means of testifying gratitude to God for the blessings of His salvation. 2. You should seek holiness as an appropriate means of ascertaining and attesting your interest in God's salvation. 3. You should seek holiness as an appropriate means of securing present happiness. The possession of it imparts release from the distressing doubts and fearful apprehensions with respect to futurity which harass the ungodly, and gives that persuasion of interest in God's favour, and that hope of eternal blessedness, which communicate a peace that passeth all understanding, and a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. 4. You should seek holiness as an appropriate means of recommending religion, and thereby advancing the glory of God. 5. You should seek holiness as an appropriate means of preparing you for the happiness of heaven, and thus insuring your reception of it. III. HOLINESS: HOW MAY WE ACQUIRE IT? The acquisition of holiness is in Scripture made the subject both of exhortation and of prayer. Being made a subject of prayer, holiness must be regarded as a privilege, or blessing, communicated to men by God. In harmony with this view of it, the work of their sanctification, both in its commencement and in its progress, is attributed to the powerful operation of the Divine Spirit. But while the Scriptures declare that holiness is a Divine gift, imparted to men by the efficacious operation of the Holy Spirit, and, on this ground, a proper subject of prayer and thanksgiving, they also teach certain important truths in regard to the operations of the Spirit as the Sanctifier, which show that the acquisition of holiness may appropriately be made the subject of exhortation and injunction. That the acquisition of holiness is a duty incumbent on men; that they ought not merely to pray for it, but to strive after it, is a truth very plainly taught in the word of revelation — a truth which no man who searches the Scriptures with an unbiased mind will hesitate to receive. 1. Release from the curse of the law and reconciliation to God are an indispensable prerequisite to the operations of the Spirit as the Sanctifier. 2. The operations of the Spirit as the Sanctifier do not supersede activity on the part of the subjects of them. They are created anew. But the change effected on them in this new creation does not destroy the powers or faculties which constitute them voluntary agents. Ii only gives a new direction to their activity; and hence, though the continued operation of the Spirit is necessary to preserve and strengthen the principle of spiritual life which has been implanted in them, yet its actings are the actings, not of the Spirit, but of the individuals to whom it has been imparted. 3. The truth revealed to us in Scripture is the means or instrument employed by the Spirit in all His operations as the Sanctifier. As His agency does not supersede human activity, so, in imparting to them the earnest desires, the ability, and the direction which are necessary to the acquisition of holiness, He always makes use of the disclosures of the mind and will of God contained in the word of revelation 4. The operations of the Spirit as the Sanctifier are the result of prayer — of earnest, believing prayer. The atoning sacrifice of Christ has opened a channel through which the influences of the Spirit may be communicated to men, in consistency with the holiness of the Divine character, the honour of the Divine law, and the rectitude and stability of the Divine administration. (D. Duncan.)
I. WHY SHOULD WE BE HOLY? II. WHAT ARE THE REASONS OF THIS REQUIREMENT? 1. We cannot but require it of ourselves. Our own nature irresistibly demands it of us — his own individual conscience of every moral agent. He knows he ought to, and therefore, by a necessity as strong as his own nature, he must become holy, or fail of peace and conscious self-approval. No moral agent can respect himself unless he is holy. Need I urge that self-respect is a thing of very great importance? Few are fully aware how very important self-respect is to themselves and to others, This form of self-respect pertains to our relations to this world and to society. But suppose a moral agent in like manner to lose his self-respect towards God. How fearful must be the influence of this loss on his heart! How reckless of moral rectitude he becomes in all that pertains to his Maker! 2. Another reason why we should be holy is, that God requires it of us. He has made us in His own image; and therefore, for the same reasons that make Him require holiness of Himself, He must require it of us. He requires us to be holy because He cannot make us happy unless we will become holy.Remarks: 1. Sinners know they are not holy. 2. The hope that unconverted people often have that they shall be saved, is utterly without foundation. 3. Many who know they must become holy, are yet very ignorant of the way in which they are to become so. Having begun in the Spirit, they try to become perfect in the flesh. 4. Pardon without holiness is impossible, in this sense: that the heart must turn from its sins to God before it can be forgiven. 5. The command to be holy implies the practicability of becoming so. 6. Christ's promises and relations to His people imply a pledge of all the help we need. The entire gospel scheme is adapted to men — not in the sense of conniving at their weakness, but of really helping them out of it. 7. God sympathises with every honest effort we make to become holy. 8. If we become partakers of His holiness, we are made sure of the river of His pleasures! 9. All men will sometimes feel the necessity of this holiness. In some cases it is felt most deeply. 10. There is no rest short of being holy. Many try to find rest in something less, but they are sure to fail. 11. Many insanely suppose that when they come to die, they shall be sanctified and prepared for heaven. 12. No man has any right to hope unless he is really committed to holiness, and in all honesty and earnestness intends to live so. (C. G. Finney.)
(Obadiah Sedgwick.)
(F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
(W. Arnot.)
(J. Martineau, LL. D.)
2. But dost thou unfeignedly desire to fear God —(1) In thy general calling as a Christian, to walk holily, righteously, and soberly? Fearest thou to offend God thyself, or to see Him dishonoured by others? Carest thou to please Him? Lovest thou to be in His presence? Dost thou conscionably hear His Word, and patiently bear His corrections?(2) In thy special calling art thou careful to glorify God, as a parent, child, master, servant, etc., not only in ceasing to do evil, but in doing good, yea, and labouring to do it well? Thou mayest comfortably and with good leave call God Father, and make account of Him so to be, which is the greatest privilege in the world. (John Rogers.)
(S. A. Tipple.)
I. HERE WE HAVE, FIRST, A FATHERLY JUDGMENT. Mark the meaning and the limits of the fatherly and filial relation which is laid at the foundation of the exhortation of my text. "If ye call on the Father" — he is speaking distinctly and exclusively to Christian people. Much has been said in recent days, and said in many aspects nobly, and with good results upon the theological thinking of our generation, about the Fatherhood of God. But, we are never to forget that that one word covers in the Bible two entirely distinct thoughts. In one aspect, God is the Father of the spirits of all flesh by their derivation of life from Him. But in another "to as many as believed on Him to them gave He power to become sons of God." And it is on the latter Fatherhood and sonship that the apostle builds the exhortation of my text. Well, then, further, the apostle here desires to guard us against another of the errors which are very common in this generation. The revolt against the sterner and graver side of Christian truth has largely found footing in a mistaken idea of the implications and bearing of that thought that God is our Father. That relationship has been thought to swallow up all others, and men have been unwilling to entertain the ideas of a righteous Governor, a supreme Law giver, a retributive Judge. And Peter brings the two ideas into juxtaposition, seeing no contradiction between them, but rather that the one necessarily involves the other. Is it not so in your own homes? Does your fatherhood swallow up your obligation to estimate the moral worth of your child, and to proportion your conduct accordingly? The judicial aspect is essential to the perfection of Fatherhood; and every family on earth mirrors the fact to those that have eyes to see. Mark, still further, the emphatic characteristics of this paternal judgment which are set forth in my text. It is "without respect of persons." Peter is going back on his old experience in that unique word. Do you remember when it was that the scales fell from his eyes, and he said, "I perceive that God is no respecter of persons"? It was in the house of Cornelius in Caesarea. Note, further, that this paternal judgment which comes on the child because he is a child, is a present one. "Who judgeth," not "who wilt judge." Ah! day by day, moment by moment, deed by deed, we are coming under the judicial light of God's eye, and the judicial force of His hand. "The history of the world is the judgment of the world," so the lives of individual Christians do record and bear the results of a present judgment of the present Father. Then mark, still further, what the thing judged by this present impartial Fatherly judgment is "According to his work." The text does not say "works," but "work" — that is, each man's life considered as a living whole; the main drift and dominant purpose, rather than the isolated single acts, are taken into view. Now, from all this, there just comes the one point that I want to urge upon our hearts and consciences — viz., that Christian people are to expect, today and hereafter, the incidence of a Father's judgment. The Jews came to Jesus Christ once and said, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God?" His answer made the same remarkable use of the singular instead of the plural to which I have drawn attention as occurring in this text — "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." Yes! And if we, in any real sense, are doing that one work of God — viz., believing on Jesus Christ — our faith will be a productive mother of work which He will look upon and accept as an odour of a sweet smell, "well-pleasing unto God." There is a paternal judgment; and the works which pass it are works done from the root and on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ. II. WE HAVE HERE A SON'S FEAR. Now, fear is, I suppose, best explained as being the shrinking anticipation of evil. But, as the Old Testament has taught us, there is a higher and a lower form of that apprehension. In the higher it is sublimed into lowly reverence and awe, which fears nothing so much as being alienated from God. And that is the fear that my text would insist upon. The evil which a Christian man, the son of the Father, and the subject of His judgment, has most to apprehend — indeed, the only evil which he has really to apprehend — is that he may be tempted to do wrong. So this fear has in it no torment, but it has in it blessedness and purity and strength. It is perfectly compatible with all these other emotions of which the lower form of fear is the opposite; perfectly compatible with confidence, with hope, with joy — nay I rather, without this wholesome and restraining dread of incurring the displeasure of a loving Father, these exuberant and buoyant graces lose their chiefest security. The fear which my text enjoins is the armed guard, so to speak, that watches over these fair virgins of hope and joy and confidence that beautify the Christian life. If you wish your hope to be bright, fear; if you wish your joy to be solid, fear; if you want your confidence in God to be unshaken, cherish utter distrust of yourself, and fear. Fear only that you may depart from Him in whom our hope, and our joy, and our confidence, have their roots. That fear is the only guarantee for our security. The man that distrusts himself and knows his danger, and clings to his refuge is safe. This son's fear is the source of courage. The man whose whole apprehension of evil is dread of sin is bold as a lion in view of all other dangers. III. Lastly, HERE IS THE HOMECOMING, WHICH WILL FINISH THE FEAR. "The time of your sojourning," says Peter. That thought runs through the letter. It is addressed "to the strangers scattered abroad," and in the next chapter he exhorts Christian people, as "strangers and pilgrims," to "abstain from fleshly lusts." Here he puts a term to this dread — "the time of your sojourning." Travellers in foreign lands have to light their fires at night to keep off the lions, and to set their guard to detect the stealthy approach of the foe, You and I, whilst we travel in this earthly pilgrimage, have to be on our guard, lest we should be betrayed. But we are going home. And when the child gets to the Father's house it does not fear any more dangers, nor need bolts and bars, nor guards and sentries. Why did God give us this capacity of anticipating, and shrinking from, future evil? Was it only meant that its red light should be a danger signal in reference to fleeting worldly evils? Is there not a far worse possibility before us all? Let me press on you this one question: Have you ever, in all the wide range which your fears of a future have taken, extended it so far as to face this question, "What will become of me when I come into contact with God the Judge and His righteous tribunal?" You will come in contact with it. Let your fear travel so far, and let it lead you to the one Refuge. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
(Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times. ")
I. THE SPHERE AND OPERATION OF CHRISTIAN FEAR. There are some to whom the importance attached to fear in this place and elsewhere seems in contradiction to the teaching of the Apostle John, who speaks of fear as being cast out by perfect love. But it is to be observed that it is perfect love to which this prerogative is assigned. But with imperfect love fear has an important sphere of action. It affords stimulus to imperfect love and pushes it on to perfection. Those whom the apostle exhorts to fear are the same whom he has exhorted to hope to the end. They are men to whom Christ is precious, who love Him and rejoice in Him with a joy unspeakable and full of glory. Fear existing along with such elements cannot even burden. It balances, sobers, solemnises, deepens, intensifies. But it is often urged that the actions which are stimulated by fear have no moral worth, that fear is but a form of selfishness, and that therefore no fruit produced by it, however well it may look to the eye, can be truly acceptable to God. This has a very specious look. It appears a particularly fine, exalted, spiritual doctrine. And it really is so in its main features. It is true; but it is only a half truth, and half truths are often the most dangerous of errors. What is the other half of the truth? Although fear in itself and by itself cannot produce truly good or spiritually right action, it yet performs a vital function in keeping the soul awake. Fear rings the alarm bell and rouses the conscience. It blows the trumpet of warning. It creates pause and opportunity for all better and nobler things to make themselves heard. It allows a man to become aware of the realities, and when he is once placed in contact with them the best things begin. Everything depends on being made earnest, sensitive, lifted into a sense of the eternal verities. The highest principles, righteousness and love, are often in the best of men forgetful and fickle. They are ensnared, oppressed, and bewildered many a time, and need the keen influence of fear to bring them to themselves again. II. FEAR IN RELATION TO THE FATHER THAT JUDGETH. Fear is obviously far from being the main feeling towards God as a Father. Confidence and love are especially the feelings called out by the Fatherhood of God. But God says, "If I be a Father, where is My fear?" God claims fear as a Father — reverence, no doubt, mainly — honour, awe in the realising of His infinitude; but something more than these, something else. For God as a Father judgeth. Did He not judge and condemn all sin He could be no true Father. Love must hate sin and show its hatred. Father is no weak, soft, indulgent word. It means love, and because it means love it means right, and undying opposition to evil, The Father judgeth without respect of persons. There is no other Father than the Father who judgeth. If I believe in a Father that judges, that will certainly rouse me up — it will waken my slumbering energies, it will cause me to look well to the state of my heart and life; but the word Father will always keep the thought of judgment from overwhelming me. III. IN ORDER TO HAVE A TRUE CHRISTIAN FEAR WE MUST PLACE TOGETHER JUDGMENT BY WORKS AND REDEMPTION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. The thought of judgment to come is essential to the depth and the reality of life. Without this everything is left in chaos. Conscience is not satisfied, nor is reason. But what reason and conscience demand cannot but awaken fear. This fear is deepened and yet transformed by the thought of redemption. Redemption seems at first wholly opposed to judgment by works, far more than even the Fatherhood of God does. For what does the Scripture mean by redemption through the blood of Christ? It means that the Son of God took our place and bore us on His heart in living and dying; it means that the sacrifice of Christ is that moral vindication of law and right, that tribute to the holiness of God which God accepts as sufficient amends and reparation. By faith man falls in with this Divine arrangement, identifies himself with it and is reconciled to God. And this faith that accepts and trusts and frees from condemnation, also works by love. Salvation by faith and judgment by works are therefore no contradiction. It is judgment by faith taken in its flower and fruit. But do we not see how fear awakes in the view of such a wonderful redemption? There is something akin to fear raised in the soul by the sight of sublimity. The wide expanse of the sky filled with sun shine or peopled with worlds raises an awe sublime, but often weighing heavily on the soul. Vast fervent love indeed banishes fear. It is the one thing that does this. And yet such a love as this — so holy, so mysterious, so resolute, so devoted — love coming from such a height, and going down into such depths, cannot but awaken a certain awe. We are overawed by the brilliancy of the light. "We fear the Lord and His goodness." And then when a man thinks of being redeemed by such a sacrifice, when he tries to realise at what a cost redemption has been effected, does not a certain fear come over him lest he should prove miserably unworthy of it all? But let not this fear in view of redemption be deemed inconsistent with the joy and freedom which belong to the gospel. It is precisely the man who has that realising sense of redemption which makes him afraid of not proving worthy of it, who has also joy. These two, fear and joy, grow out of the same root of redemption. The more joy in Christ any man has, the more will he be afraid of not conforming sufficiently to Christ. (J. Leckie, D. D.)
(Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times.)
II. THE REASON they have here to persuade to this fear is twofold. 1. Their relation to God us their Father and their Judge. But as He is the best Father, so consider that He is withal the greatest and most just Judge. There is here the sovereignty of this Judge, the universality of His judgment, and the equity of it. "Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." You are encompassed with enemies and snares; how can you be secure in the midst of them? Perfect peace and security are reserved for you at home, and that is the end of your fear. III. THE TERM OR CONTINUANCE OF THIS FEAR. It continues all the time of this sojourning life; it dies not before us: we and it shall expire together. "Blessed is he that feareth always," says Solomon; in secret and in society, in his own house and in God's. We must hear the Word with fear, and preach it with fear, afraid to miscarry in our intentions and manners. "Serve the Lord with fear," yea, in times of inward comfort and joy, "rejoice with trembling"; not only when a man feels most his own weakness, but when he finds himself strongest. None are so high advanced in grace here below as to be out of need of this grace; but when their sojourning shall be done, and they are come home to their Father's house above, then no more fearing. No entrance for dangers there, and therefore no fear. (Abp. Leighton.)
1. His past condition. Whence has the pilgrim come? From the city of destruction. 2. His present state. He is a sojourner. 3. His future destination. II. THE MANNER IN WHICH THE CHRISTIAN'S LIFE SHOULD BE SPENT. In fear." 1. A fear of reverence. Contrast the Divine majesty with our meanness. 2. A fear of caution. 3. A fear of anxiety. It is better to err on the side of timidity than presumption. (Essex Remembrancer.)
II. Awe of the redeemed BECAUSE OF THEIR RECOLLECTION OF THE EVIL FROM WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN REDEEMED. 1. A consciousness of being redeemed. 2. A consciousness of being redeemed from a habit of life that was evil. 3. A consciousness of being redeemed from an evil habit of life that was inherited. III. Awe of the redeemed BECAUSE OF THE COST BY WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN REDEEMED. 1. This cost in contrast with the wealth of this world. 2. This cost as revealed in Jesus Christ. 3. This cost as known to the infinite heart of the Eternal God. 4. This cost as approved by God. 5. This cost as incurred for man's sake. IV. Awe of the redeemed BECAUSE OF THE DESTINY TO WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN REDEEMED. Faith and hope in God. God the impregnable fortress, the enduring home. (U. R. Thomas.)
1. Engaging, indeed, is the title under which your religion addresses you. But that God, that Father, to whom you must one day go, is a Being so pure that even the heavens are tainted in His sight. 2. It is not only your appearance before Him on that distant day that makes your sojourning on earth so fearful; for every hour of your existence here this incomprehensible and unseen Being is about your path. No retirement by night is so dark but His eye can penetrate it; no walk by day so intricate but He can follow it; no secret of the soul so hidden but He can see it. II. To the nature of that heavenly Father, into whose inheritance we are invited, the text directs us to add THE JUDGMENT TO WHICH WE SHALL ONE DAY BE SUMMONED. III. The third argument which the apostle uses for religious fear is drawn from THE MEANS ADOPTED THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST FOR THE EVERLASTING SALVATION OF OUR SOULS. IV. THE NATURE OF THE WORLD IN WHICH WE DWELL, AND THE WEAKNESS OF THE HUMAN HEART. All the warnings that are given us, all the hopes that are held out to us, remind us of the danger of the state in which we dwell. The world, by professing to he Christian, is more dangerous; because it has lost the appearance of enmity, and has greater power over us by its failures. Look into your own heart, and, remembering yourself as a being designed for immortality, think on its wanderings, its coldness, its impurity, its inconstancy, and say if anything was ever so poor, so frail, so blind, so unprepared to meet its God! (G. Mathew, M. A.)
II. IN WHAT MANNER IT SHOULD INFLUENCE OUR CONDUCT IN THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE. To engage us to depart from evil and to keep the commandments is the direct tendency of religious fear. Calling forth our vigilance and circumspection, it will admonish us of latent dangers, and lead us to a faithful discharge of every duty and a serious preparation for eternity. Its influence will be habitual and steady. In every state, and at all times, the serious impression will be felt, by producing in our lives a constant fear of God, a virtuous deportment in the world, and a holy reverence for ourselves. Let us first consider its influence on our religious duties. To form right notions of the Deity, cherish suitable affections, and express these by acts of religious worship and a holy life, form the chief parts of piety. But not to the more immediate acts of public and private devotion will this influence be confined; it will extend to every act of religious obedience, and to everything sacred. It will form the constant temper of the true Christian, and direct the habitual tenor of this life. Nor is this destructive to human enjoyment. The restraints it imposes are curbs on vice; but real pleasure they extend and improve. It is rational enjoyment which they prescribe, in place of momentary bliss. III. MOTIVES TO ENGAGE ALL TO LIVE HERE IN FEAR. 1. The nature of our present state and our future prospects calls upon us thus to fear. Can we rest in security where all is changing? Can we not be apprehensive where all things cause alarm? We stand on the brink of a precipice, from which the slightest breath may drive us headlong. Is this a place, is this a time, to swell in fancied security, riot in unlawful pleasure, and indulge in unbridled joy? 2. By living in fear we will escape unnumbered evils. From thoughtless inattention fatal dangers arise — fatal not only to our worldly prosperity, but to the far more important concerns of the soul. 3. It will promote the rational enjoyment of life. Always to tremble destroys felicity, but cautious fear improves and extends it. To the man that feareth always, no accident happens unexpected; no good gives immoderate joy, nor no evil unnecessary alarm. 4. It will demonstrate our attachment to Jesus, and lead to the fulfilment of the vows you solemnly came under at the table of your Lord. 5. It leads to happiness eternal. The time is at hand when fear shall no more disquiet. (D. Malcolm, LL. D.)
(T. Chalmers, D. D.)
2. This sojourning hath a time. 3. This time must be passed. 4. This passage must be in fear. 5. This fear must be of a Father. 6. He is so a Father, that He is our Judge. (Bp. Hall.)
1. On all hands it is acknowledged that redemption implies the pardon of sin, but the dominion of sin must also be subdued. 2. Are you redeemed from a vain conversation, from a useless form of religion, from an unspiritual profession of faith in the gospel, from trifling and unprofitable behaviour, from the course of this world? II. CONSIDER THE UTTER INADEQUACY OF HUMAN MEANS TO HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THIS GREAT REDEMPTION. III. THE EFFICACIOUS MEANS WHEREBY THIS GREAT REDEMPTION HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. Learn — 1. The necessity of faith. 2. Beware of entertaining unscriptural views of redemption. (Essex Remembrancer.)
1. Sin is a worthless life. A vain conversation. 2. It is a worthless life transmitted. II. IT IS A REDEMPTION BY A COSTLY SACRIFICE. 1. By the sacrifice of a life. 2. By the sacrifice of a most perfect life. III. IT IS A REDEMPTION ORDAINED BEFORE ALL TIME. 1. Unsought. 2. Unmerited. 3. Absolutely free. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
1. God hath no need of any of these things, and they are His already (Psalm 24:1; Psalm 50:10). 2. Our soul is an immortal and incorruptible thing, a creature that hath a beginning, but never shall have end. 3. Sin is a transgression against an Infinite God, and so deserveth an infinite punishment. 4. Many times even for a trespass committed against men, these things will not be taken for a recompense. 5. These often, when God sends some bodily judgment, are unable to do men any pleasure, nor can at all pacify God. 6. These cannot redeem a man's bodily life and save it from death, nor can they prolong a man's life an hour beyond his appointed time; much less can they redeem his soul. 7. These cannot purchase wit, learning, eloquence for those that want them, much less sanctification and grace. (John Rogers.)
1. Gross errors in opinion. 2. Divers superstitions in their life, as were the traditions of the Pharisees. 3. Children learn divers sins only, or chiefly from their parents. II. If any ask WHY THE TRADITIONS OF PARENTS SHOULD BE SO INFECTIOUS. 1. Because they are cast into the natures of the children in the youngest years, and so are the more infectious because they were first seasoned with them. 2. Because of the affection children bear to their parents, and their opinion of their sufficiency. 3. Because they are continually conversant with them, and so see no other or no better precepts or examples. III. The use may be for INSTRUCTION, BOTH TO PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 1. Parents should be humbled under the consideration of the misery they bring upon their children, both by propagation and tradition. 2. Children should also learn from hence(1) Not to rest wholly upon the tradition of parents, anal to know it is not a sufficient rule to warrant their actions.(2) What good is commended especially of the good fathers, those we should embrace, and the rather for their sakes. 3. Shall not this evidently confute their gross folly, that so much urge the traditions of the fathers? 4. Are men so zealous for the tradition of their fathers of the flesh; and shall not we be much more zealous for the traditions of God Himself delivered in His Word? His counsels are all perfect; there can be no defect in them; and further, no parents can afford us such acceptation, or reward for obedience. (N. Byfield.)
(Abp. Leighton.)
II. THE PRODIGIES WHICH ATTENDED THE SHEDDING OF THIS BLOOD. On previous occasions, when sacrifices had been offered, there were tokens of God's favourable notice — Abel, Noah, Abraham, Gideon, etc. But when was it heard that the sun was clothed as in sackcloth, that the rocks were rent, the earth shaken, etc. III. WHERE IT WAS PRESENTED (Hebrews 9:7, 12). The very life laid down was taken up, and is lived on again in heaven in circumstances of the highest glory and honour. IV. WHAT IT PREVENTS. Condemnation, wrath, curse. This blood will ward off all harm from those who trust it. Will not suffer Satan or death to destroy any who are sheltered beneath it. V. WHAT IT PROCURES. 1. For man generally. (1) (2) 2. For believers — redemption, even the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7). VI. WHAT IT PRODUCES. The blood of Christ is omnipotent. It prevails over guilt, fear and care. It casts down pride, casts out the reigning power of sin, and introduces happiness, holiness, humility, and hope. VII. WHAT IT WILL PERPETUATE, AND SECURE FOREVER TO ALL BELIEVERS. Abidance before the throne of God, union with the redeemed of all ages, service in the heavenly temple, the absence of sorrow, death, and sin. (J. Cox.)
2. A ruler who never punishes his rebellious subjects, and who so pardons as to reproach his own government and laws, will spread evil by his so-called goodness, and will be cruel in his apparent kindness. The problem to be solved is, How can God be just, and yet the Saviour of the sinner? The solution of this problem is found in the precious blood of Christ. 3. Christ, according to the Scriptures, is the Word made flesh. The blood of Christ is the blood of the flesh in which God was manifest. All blood is precious — precious the blood of Abel, the blood of the persecuted prophets, etc., but there is no blood so precious as the blood of Christ. 4. Among the many things which we value, there is nothing which we so prize as the offerings of disinterested love: these surpass in interest, if not in value, the products of our labour and the blessings which we inherit as a birthright, or which reach us through the ordinary channels of Divine providence, and of our political and social institutions. Now "greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." The blood of Christ is a double illustration of disinterested love: for while the Son gives Himself for us, the Father gives the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 5. How marvellous in their variety and character are the effects of the blood of Christ! It brings Jehovah forth from His secret place with the light of love in His countenance, it arrests the course of the law in its pursuit of the sinner, it magnifies the law, it restores access to God, it cleanses, justifies, and redeems unto God. Never was blood like this. 6. There are different standards by which we value precious things. Some things are valuable because of their utility, and other things because of their singularity and rarity and beauty, but how few things are beautiful and rare and useful! Precious stones are beautiful and rare, but their utility is small; and the precious metals are valuable as currency, but not comparable to iron or even to coal. When, however, rarity is combined with utility, and an important service is to be rendered by one being or by one thing, how precious that being or thing becomes! The one medicine, a specific for some dire disease, the one means of escape in the hour of peril, the forlorn hope of an army, the only son of a widowed mother, are examples. And in this position stands the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin, but the blood of Christ alone. 7. Alas! many of our precious things deteriorate. Time, that devours all things, mars and breaks our choicest treasures. Business fails, commerce is arrested, empires decline, the very Church of Christ becomes corrupt; but among the things which are incorruptible and undefiled is the precious blood of Christ. 8. Often have we heard men say, "Lo I here is the panacea! and lo! there!" But where is the remedy for all disease, and where the universal medicine? The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. It removes the guilty smart from the conscience, and it relieves memory of its heaviest burden, and takes from imagination all its horrible creations. (S. Martin.)
I. THE COST OF OUR REDEMPTION HAS BEEN IMMENSE. 1. Negatively. "Not with corruptible things, as silver and gold." A moneyed man, who has been accustomed to look on his wealth as the key to every treasure-chest, is sometimes startled to find how little it can really do. God could have given suns of gold, and stars of silver, constellations of bodies glowing with precious metals, but none of these would have been sufficient to free one soul from the curse or penalty of sin, or to change it into a loyal and loving subject of His reign. The Creator must give not things, but life — not His gifts, but Himself, ere He could redeem. 2. Positively. "But with the precious blood of Christ." The blood is the life. Life is man's supreme possession, and his supreme gift. And, in addition, when blood is mentioned with the laying down of life, there is the further thought of intense suffering, of violence, etc. The blood of Jesus was precious, because of the dignity of His nature, and because of His perfect character. Without blemish, that is, without personal sin. Without spot, that is, not defiled by contact with sinners. And thus it was adequate for the work of cleansing away the terrible aggregate of sin. II. THE OBJECT OF OUR REDEMPTION. "From your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers." It is our ransom price, the purchase money of our entire being to be Christ's. The purchaser of any slave regarded him as his chattel, his goods. His word and will were absolute law. Such are the rights which our glorious Master has over us. Who, then, of us can live as we have been wont, following after vanity, treading in the footsteps of our fore fathers, content to do as others before us? New claims have come in. Our Redeemer is Lord. III. THE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE REDEEMED. "Who by Him do believe in God." (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
II. ESTIMATE THE PRECIOUSNESS OF THIS BLOOD BY ITS INTRINSIC MERIT. 1. The first circumstance prominent in this description of our Saviour's sacrifice, is that it is a direct oblation to God. 2. And this oblation of Himself to God contained an ample recognition of the authority of God's law, and of His right to punish transgressors. 3. Another circumstance prominent in the description of the Saviour's sacrifice is the intelligence and voluntariness of the victim. 4. Another circumstance — one which we believe was prefigured by the sacrifices under the law, and one which substantiates the sacrifice of Christ to have been a proper sacrifice — is that He was an unblemished victim. III. Compute the value of this precious blood WITH REFERENCE TO THE PERSONAL VALUE OF THE SAVIOUR. IV. CONSIDER THE VALUE ATTACHED TO THIS BLOOD BY THE FATHER. 1. We might illustrate this by many tokens and testimonies of His complacency towards His Son, before His sufferings and death. 2. Consider as another illustration of the preciousness of Christ's blood, either in life or death, to the Father, the personal compensation He awarded to Him for His sufferings. V. And need I remind you of the IMMENSE GOOD THIS BLOOD IS THE MEANS OF PROCURING TO MANKIND, to say nothing of the lower orders of the creation, as a further illustration of this subject. VI. By way of application, let us see WHETHER THIS BLOOD BE NOT PRECIOUS TO EVERY RIGHTLY AFFECTED HUMAN HEART. Mark its efficacy and power over every class of sinners, who are resting upon its sovereign influence through the power of the Holy Spirit. "To you He is precious." (W. M. Bunting.)
I. When viewed in connection with THE FATHER'S PURPOSE AND THE FATHER'S LOVE. II. When viewed in connection with THE PERSON OF CHRIST. III. When viewed in ITS BEARING UPON MAN. (A. C. Price.)
II. IN THE MINDS AND HEARTS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS THE BLOOD OF CHRIST WAS REGARDED AS BUT A SYMBOL OF, OR BUT ANOTHER NAME FOR, THE LOVE OF CHRIST. "What is the blood of Christ?" asked Livingstone of his own solitary soul in the last months of his African wanderings. "It is Himself. It is the inherent and everlasting mercy of God made apparent to human eyes and ears. The everlasting love was disclosed by our Lord's life and death. It showed that God forgives, because He loves to forgive." Does not St. Paul tell us that love is the highest virtue and grace of man? Does not St. John tell us that the very essence of the name and nature of God is love? Well, then, did the early Christians reason when they declared that the blood is but the symbol of that which is the most precious, perfect, and potent force in the whole universe — whether it be affirmed of either God or man — love, unspeakable, all blessed, eternal love. (J. T. Stannard.)
I. The precious blood of Christ has a REDEEMING POWER. It redeems from the law. Our law is fulfilled, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. II. The value of the blood lies much in its ATONING EFFICACY. We are told in Leviticus, that "it is the blood which maketh an atonement for the soul." God never forgave sin apart from blood under the law. Christ, therefore, came and was punished in the place and stead of all His people. There is none other plan by which sinners can be made at one with God, except by Jesus' precious blood. III. The precious blood of Jesus Christ has A CLEANSING POWER (1 John 1:7). IV. A fourth property of the blood of Christ is ITS PRESERVING POWER. Did not God see the blood before you and I saw it, and was not that the reason why He spared our forfeited lives when, like barren fig trees, we brought forth no fruit for Him? "When I see the blood I will pass over you." V. The blood of Christ is precious because of its PLEADING PREVALENCE (Hebrews 12:24). When I cannot pray as I would, how sweet to remember that the blood prays! VI. Christ's blood is precious because of its MELTING INFLUENCE on the human heart. Come for repentance, if you cannot come repenting. VII. The same blood that melts has A GRACIOUS POWER TO PACIFY. VIII. ITS SANCTIFYING INFLUENCE (Hebrews 9:14). IX. ITS POWER TO GIVE ENTRANCE. I am persuaded some of us do not come near to God, because we forget the blood. If you try to have fellowship with God in your graces, your experiences, your believings, you will fail; but if you try to come near to God as you stand in Christ Jesus, you will have courage to come; and on the other hand, God will run to meet you when He sees you in the face of His anointed. X. ITS CONFIRMING POWER. The promises are yea and amen, for no other reason than this, because Christ Jesus died and rose again. XI. ITS INVIGORATING POWER. "My blood is drink indeed." Oh, whenever your spirit faints, this wine shall comfort you; when your griefs are many, drink and forget your misery. O precious blood, how many are thy uses! May I prove them all! XII. The blood has AN OVERCOMING POWER. It is written in the Revelation, "They overcame by the blood of the Lamb." How could they do otherwise? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
II. IT IS PRECIOUS, FOR IT SATISFIED THE JUSTICE OF GOD WHEN NOTHING ELSE COULD. III. IT IS PRECIOUS, FOR IT IS PLEADED BEFORE GOD FOR THE PARDON AND THE SANCTIFICATION OF SOULS. IV. IT IS PRECIOUS, AS APPLIED TO THE CONSCIENCE BY THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR JUSTIFICATION. V. IT IS PRECIOUS BLOOD, AS APPLIED TO THE SOUL FOR SANCTIFICATION. VI. IT IS PRECIOUS, BECAUSE BY IT WE OVERCOME SIN AND HELL. VII. IT IS PRECIOUS BLOOD, BECAUSE IT WILL BE THE BELIEVER'S THEME IN HEAVEN. Application: 1. Which is most precious to you, gold and silver, and the precious things of this world, or the precious blood of Christ? 2. Have you ever felt the preciousness of this blood? 3. Remember, there is no advantage to be gained from this precious blood without an application of it to your soul. 4. Remember, that its value and virtue is just what it always was. 5. Be sure never to trample this precious blood under your feet, for its consequences will be most tremendous (Hebrews 10:29, 30). (Studies For The Pulpit.)
I. As an ACCOMPLISHED FACT. "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things," etc. II. As UNATTAINABLE BY WORLDLY WEALTH. "Not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold." III. As EFFECTED ONLY BY CHRIST. "But with the precious blood of Christ." (Homilist.)
I. WHY IS IT PRECIOUS? 1. Consider whose blood it is. "The blood of Christ," the blood of our elder Brother, of a Friend, of a Prophet, Priest, and King — the blood of our incarnate God (Acts 20:28). 2. Regard it as the evidence of infinite love. For whom was it shed? The Messiah was cut off, but not for Himself. "He was wounded for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:5). As the apostle argues (Romans 5:6-10). 3. Yet more precious will it appear if we notice the miseries from which it frees us — and the unspeakable blessings it has purchased for us. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7). "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7; Revelation 1:5, 6). "They who were sometimes far off are brought nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13). "Having made peace through the blood of His Cross" (Colossians 1:20). "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (Romans 3:20-26; 1 John 2:1, 2; Hebrews 9:11-18). Can a man realise these blessings and live in the habitual enjoyment of them; and bear in mind the price paid to procure them, and not feel the preciousness of the blood of Christ? 4. It is precious as affording an all-prevailing plea in our petitions at the throne of grace — and an universal antidote to the temptations of Satan and unbelief. 5. The efficacy of this blood enhances its preciousness. "Jesus by His one oblation of Himself once offered has made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world." "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). Who can comprehend the value of such a ransom! 6. The perpetuity of blessedness which it ensures. Whom it blesses it blesses forever. Jesus by His own offering hath perfected forever them that are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). II. TO WHOM THIS BLOOD IS PRECIOUS. Would to God that I could say it is so to all! but alas! this is not the case. Neither is it true of the many. The great majority "count the blood of the covenant wherewith they are sanctified an unholy thing" (Hebrews 10:29). And will you not commemorate the shedding of that blood? (R. Simpson, M. A.)
(T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
(G. Everard.)
(William Robinson.)
2. This teaches us to imitate Him, and in all things to be innocent as He was. 3. In that Christ being so innocent, was yet willing to suffer and offer His blood, let Us imitate Him in this also; let us be patient in bearing troubles and persecution; we must suffer for His cause (though causelessly) cheerfully and willingly. We must also suffer patiently. (John Rogers.)
(J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
1. "Who verily was foreordained." The literal word here is "foreknown." Before the world was God concentrated His thoughts upon His Son, not only in His personal, but also in His official capacity as the future Redeemer of mankind. 2. "Who was verily foreordained before the foundation of the world." Before it in time. This affords a due to the occupation of the Divine Mind before the creative fiat first broke on the silence of immensity. 3. "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." A correspondence therefore obtains between time and eternity, between the manifestation in history and the prearrangement in the unfathomable abysses of the Divine Mind. Foreordination implies a plan, a plan of the world and a plan of salvation. The idea of redemption, of the Son as a propitiation for sin, seems to be the first and most important thought of God. It was not an after thought, but the ruling thought, and around it all other thoughts were systematically arranged. Creation is to redemption what the scaffolding is to the temple; when the latter will be finished, the former will be consigned to the flames. II. THE PRECIOUSNESS OF THE SACRIFICE. III. THE EFFICIENCY OF THE SACRIFICE. 1. The efficiency of the sacrifice is to be seen in the fact that it satisfied Divine justice, for the text informs us that "God raised Him up from the dead and gave Him glory." The exact bearing of the atonement on the Divine nature is a mystery we cannot fully explain. But whatever hindrances to our salvation there were, arising out of the essential and governmental righteousness of God, they were all removed by the death of the Cross. 2. The second proof of the efficiency, and therefore of the sufficiency, of the ransom is — that it actually delivers men from their "vain conversation received by tradition from the fathers." Three interpretations have been given of this phrase, but whichever interpretation we take we find the sacrifice of Christ equally efficacious. One interpretation is, that Christ's death has redeemed men from the oppressive sway of religious traditionalism. A second interpretation is, that by "vain conversation received by tradition from the fathers" we are to understand the combined power of habit and example in fashioning the course of men's lives. A further interpretation has been suggested, namely, that by "vain conversation received by tradition from the fathers" we are to understand original sin, the innate depravity communicated from generation to generation according to the law of heredity. And it must be conceded that this form of corruption is the most difficult of all to be rooted out of our nature. But, thanks be to God, the blood of Christ can wash out the dye; and we look confidently forward to the day when we shall have been actually redeemed from evil in every shape and form, when we shall be clean without and white within, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
II. THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS PURPOSE. "Was manifest in these last times for you." He was manifested by His incarnation, manifested in the flesh, and manifested by His marvellous works and doctrine, by His sufferings and death, resurrection and ascension, by the sending down of the Holy Ghost according to His promise, and by the preaching of the gospel. III. THE APPLICATION OF THIS MANIFESTATION. "For you." The apostle represents these things to those he writes to particularly for their use. Therefore he applies it to them, but without prejudice to the believers who went before or of those who were to follow in after ages. He who is here said to be foreordained before the foundation of the world is therefore called "A Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." And as the virtue of His death looks backward to all preceding ages, whose faith and sacrifices looked forward to it, so the same death is of force and perpetual value to the end of the world. (Abp. Leighton.)
1. The Father dwelleth in the light that none can attain unto. How, then, shall we come to Him of ourselves, we being so poor and weak, and He of so infinite majesty? As in the summer we cannot directly look upon the sun shining in his full strength, but may view it in a pail of water, so must we see the Father in the Son, who is the image of the Father and the ingraven form of His person. 2. God is infinitely just, and we extremely wicked; He a consuming fire, and we stubble. How, then, can we come to Him, believe in Him, or take comfort, but only in and by the Lord Jesus our Mediator? (John Rogers.)
I. AS RAISED FROM THE DEAD BY THE POWER OF GOD THE FATHER. The resurrection of Christ is a fundamental article of our religion. 1. The resurrection of Christ was necessary. The graves of earthly princes are the end of their glory, the termination of all their conquests; the grave of Christ becomes the scene of His divinest achievement. 2. The resurrection of Christ is established, as a fact, on the surest basis. Divine wisdom seems to have taken particular care to guard it against all reasonable grounds of suspicion and doubt. 3. The resurrection of Christ was the acknowledged work of a Divine power. II. AS GLORIFIED BY THE FATHER SUBSEQUENTLY TO HIS RESURRECTION. 1. The resurrection imparted to Him the glory of a Divine nature in the conviction of mortals.(1) This it effected by removing the disgrace which death attached to Him, in the professed character of a Divine deliverer, and attesting Him to be the Prince of Life.(2) The resurrection gave Him this glory also by putting the stamp of the Divine approbation on all His assertions. 2. He was glorified with the investment of sovereign power in the nature in which He rose from the dead. This is what is called His mediatorial glory. III. AS THE GROUND AND OCCASION OF A LIVELY FAITH AND HOPE IN US TOWARDS GOD. "That your faith and hope might be in God." 1. In His willingness to save sinners for His Son's sake. 2. Our faith and hope are in God, through Christ, in relation to the possession of a future and blessed state in reserve for believers after death. 3. Our faith and hope are in God, through Jesus Christ, in relation to the restoration of our bodies at the last day from the gloom and dishonour of the grave. (J. Leifchild.)
II. THE SOCIAL INFLUENCE OF RELIGION. "Ye have purified your souls...unto unfeigned love of the brethren." The spirit of love is essential to the welfare of every society. There is no unfeigned love of the brethren but from the purified soul. First, the spirit of selfishness is obliterated from the purified soul. Secondly, the purified soul is God-like in its nature and influence. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." "God is love." Thirdly, the feelings of the purified soul are always loving and compassionate. (H. E. Thomas.)
I. THE DUE QUALIFICATIONS OF BROTHERLY LOVE. 1. Love must be unfeigned. It appears that dissimulation is a disease that is very incident in this particular. St. Paul hath the same word (Romans 12:9), and St. John speaks to the same effect (1 John 3:18). He requires that our love have that double reality which is opposed to double dissembled love; that it be cordial and effectual; that the professing of it arise from truth of affection, and, as much as may be, be seconded with action; that both the heart and the hand may be the seal of it rather than the tongue. When after variances men are brought to an agreement, they are much subject rather to cover their remaining malices with superficial verbal forgiveness than to dislodge them and free the heart of them. This is a poor self-deceit. As the philosopher said to him who, being ashamed that he was espied by him in a tavern in the outer room, withdrew himself to the inner, "That is not the way out; the more you go that way, you will be the further within it"; so when hatreds are, upon admonition, not thrown out, but retire inward to hide themselves, they grow deeper and stronger than before. 2. It must be pure, with a pure heart. Call it good fellowship or what you will, all the fruit that in the end can be expected out of unholy fellowship in sinning together is to be tormented together, and to add each to the torment of the other. The mutual love of Christians must be pure, arising from such causes as are pure and spiritual, from the sense of our Saviour's command and of His example (John 13:34). They that are indeed lovers of God are united; by that their hearts meet in Him as in one centre: they cannot but love one another. Where a godly man sees his Father's image, he is forced to love it. And as the Christian's love is pure in its cause, so in its effects and exercise. His society and converse with any tends mainly to this, that he may mutually help and be helped in the knowledge and love of God. 3. We must love fervently, not after a cold indifferent manner. Let the love of your brethren be as a fire within you, consuming that selfishness which is so contrary to it and is so natural to men. Let it set your thoughts on work to study how to do others good. Let your love be an active love, intense within you, and extending itself in doing good to the souls and bodies of your brethren as they need and you are able. II. "Love of the brethren." In this is implied OUR OBLIGATION after a special manner to love those of the household of faith, because they are our brethren. There is in this fervent love sympathy with the griefs of our brethren, desire and endeavour to help them, bearing their infirmities, and recovering them too, if it may be; admonishing and reproving them as is needful, sometimes sharply, and yet still in love; rejoicing in their good, in their gifts and graces, so far from envying them that we be glad as if they were our own. You are brethren by the same new birth and born to the same inheritance, and such an inheritance as shall not be an apple of strife amongst you, to beget debates and contentions: no, it is enough for all, and none shall prejudice another, but you shall have joy in the happiness one of another, seeing you shall then be perfect in love, all harmony, no difference in judgment nor in affection, all your harps tuned to the same new song, which you shall sing forever. Let that love begin here which shall never end. (Abp. Leighton.)
II. PURITY, OBEDIENCE, LOVE ARE THE SIGNS OF A NEW LIFE WHICH THE CHRISTIAN IS LIVING. III. THE FORCES OUT OF WHICH THIS NEW LIFE GROWS ARE DEATHLESS. 1. "Seed" — (1) (2) (3) 2. "Incorruptible." Truth itself never dies, nor love. IV. THE WORD OF GOD IS THE IMPERISHABLE MEANS BY WHICH THESE FORCES OF LIFE ARE BROUGHT INTO THE VERY SOUL OF MAN. (U. R. Thomas.)
1. The objects and elements of this love.(1) It is called "the love of the brethren," "brotherly "kindness," as contradistinguished from that "charity" which has for its object the whole race of man (2 John 2).(2) This circumstance, which necessarily limits this principle as to its range, gives it greater comprehension of elementary principles and greater intensity of influence and activity of operation. It includes goodwill in its highest degree; but to this it adds moral esteem, complacential delight, tender sympathy. 2. The distinctive characters of Christian love.(1) "With a pure heart." (a) (b) II. BROTHERLY LOVE RECOMMENDED. 1. The intimate and indissoluble mutual relation between Christians as brethren, arising out of their intimate and indissoluble common relation to God as their Father, is a strong motive to the cultivation and exercise of Christian brotherly kindness. 2. The common character to which all Christians have been formed by the agency of the same Spirit, and the instrumentality of the same Word, is another strong motive. (J. Brown, D. D.)
1. The injunctions of Christ (John 13:34, 35; John 15:12; Matthew 5:24; Matthew 25:34, 35, 41, 42). 2. The teachings of His apostles (Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:22; 1 Corinthians 13:1.; 1 John 4:7, 16, 20, etc.). II. ITS EXTENT. 1. To all mankind. The more general it is, the more Christian and the more like God's love. 2. The more special objects of our love ought to be those who agree with us in a common faith (Galatians 6:10) — i.e., all Christians, as Christians, and because such. To love those that are of our way, humour, and opinion, is not charity, but self-love; 'tis not for Christ's sake, but our own. III. ITS EXCELLENCE. 1. It is the image of God, and of all the graces renders us most like our Maker, for God is love and the lover of men. And is it not a glorious excellency that makes men like the fountain of all perfection? 2. It is the spirit of angels, glorified souls, and the best of men. 3. Love is an eminent branch of the Divine life and nature (1 John 4:7, 8). 4. Love is the bond and type of Christian communion. 5. Love is the most Catholic grace, and upon that account the most excellent, since that which promotes the good of the whole is better than any private perfection. 6. Love commends Christianity to those without, and cleanseth the profession of it from many spots it hath contracted. IV. THE MEANS OF ATTAINING THIS EXCELLENT AND CATHOLIC TEMPER. 1. Directions.(1) Acknowledge worth in any man. Whatever is good is from God, and He is to be loved and owned in all things, as well in the paint upon the butterfly's wing as in the glorious uniform lustre of the sun; in the least herb under our feet as well as in the stupendous fabric of the heavens over us. And moral perfections are to be acknowledged, as wall as these natural ones. And we must take care that we make not our relish the measure of worth and goodness. Say not this is excellent because it is agreeable to your particular palates, and that on the other hand is vile because it is distasteful to your genius. Let us, then, be so ingenious as to own the virtue and the goodness that is in all parties and opinions; let us commend and love it.(2) Be much in the contemplation of the love of God. He that knows how much God hath loved him, hath a mighty reason to love his brother (1 John 4:11).(3) Make the great design of religion yours; and know that the intent of that is, not to teach us systems of opinion, but to furnish our minds with encouragements of virtue and instances of duty; to direct us to govern our passions and subdue our appetites and self-wills, in order to the glory of God, the good of societies, and our own present and eternal interests.(4) Study the moderate, pacific ways and principles, and run not in extremes. Both truth and "love are in the middle. Extremes are dangerous. 2. Considerations.(1) Love is part of religion; but opinions, for the sake of which we lose charity, are none. The first I have proved already, and for the other we may consider that religion consists, not in knowing many things, but in practising the few plain things we know.(2) Charity is certainly our duty, but many of the opinions, about which we fall out, are uncertainly true; viz., as to us. The fundamental points of faith are indeed as firm as the centre, but the opinions of men are as fluctuating as the waves of the ocean. The root and body of a tree is fast and unshaken, while the leaves are made the sport of every wind. And colours sometimes vary with every position of the object and the eye, though the light of the sun be an uniform splendour. The foundation of God standeth sure, but men often build upon it what is very tottering and uncertain. The great truths of religion are easily discernible, but the smaller and remoter ones require more acuteness to descry them; and the best light may be deceived about such obscure and distant objects. The apostle tells us that we know but in part (1 Corinthians 13:9), and makes confidence an argument of ignorance (1 Corinthians 8:2).(3) Christian love is necessary, but agreement in opinions is neither necessary nor possible.(4) Errors of themselves are infirmities of the understanding, and not enormities of the will, for no man is willing to be deceived. So that they ought not to be the objects of our hatred but our pity. We all are pilgrims in our way to the Jerusalem that is above. If some will go in this path, some in the other, these in a circuit, and those amongst the rocks, we may be sure it is because they know not the danger and inconveniences which they choose.(5) We ought to make allowance for education, authority, and fair pretences, which have a mighty power, even over honest minds, and do often unavoidably lead them into error. For let us consider how easily we receive the first impressions, and how deeply they sink into our souls.(6) In many things we err ourselves; and, therefore, shall have need of the charity of others. 3. Cautions.(1) Beware of inordinate admiration and love of any sect. When we passionately admire a party, we are apt to despise them that differ from it.(2) Avoid eager and passionate disputes. In these charity is always lost, and truth seldom or never found. If thou art desirous to prevail with thy friend to lay down his opinion, assault him not by the fierceness of disputes; for such attempts will but raise his passion, and that will make him stick the closer to his error; but shine upon him with a calm light, insinuate thy better principle by modest and gentle suggestions.(3) Beware of zeal about opinions, by which I mean all the propositions of less certainty or consequence.(4) Beware of censuring and affixing odious names and consequences upon the persons or opinions of others. (Joseph Glanvil.)
I. THE MARKS OF SUCH LOVE. 1. Unfeigned. Dissimulation is a disease very antagonistic to Christian love. How subtly we are tempted to maintain appearances because of some ulterior gain. Our politeness is often but skin deep. Our smiles assumed for a purpose. Our words smoother than butter, whilst our hearts are drawn swords. 2. Pure. "Hearts may be cemented by impurity, by ungodly conversation and society in sin, as in uncleanness or drunkenness." 3. Fervently. "On the stretch." Our love seldom gets beyond "temperate," and never to boiling point. II. THE EFFICIENT CAUSE OF SUCH LOW. "It will come through obeying the truth." 1. We must know the truth. Put two burnished mirrors opposite each other, and there will be no glow of light on either; but if a candle stand between, the beams of light are flung to and fro, to an extent impossible to either or both alone. So the mere contact of Christian with Christian will not necessarily produce the burning heart, unless there be also between them the Truth of God. 2. We must also obey the truth. Do, and you shall know. Obey, and you will love. 3. As we obey the truth, we shall be purified by it. Young men cleanse their way by taking heed to the Divine Word. III. THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE LIFE WITHIN. It is "not of man, or of the will of the flesh, but of God." (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
1. The word for "purified" is not that denoting the infusion of virtue, but that which signifies the expulsion from the soul of all defilement, and especially of selfishness. Worldly philosophies and religions only required external lustration — the purification of the life; Christianity inculcates inward sanctity — the purification of the soul. 2. The way to effect this is by believing obedience to the truth as revealed in the Gospel. Christian truths, different from the truths of mathematics and of art, exert a sanctifying influence on the heart. This is the main purpose of their revelation. But how do they accomplish this object? By being obeyed. 3. Truth is only the wire along which the electric current flows from the spirit of God to the spirit of man, only the vehicle to convey holy influences direct from the Holy Ghost to the human soul, which influences set up a spiritual ferment within, making the impurities rise like scum to the surface, finally to be cast off altogether. What, then, is the result of this refining, purifying process? "Unfeigned love of the brethren." A new word has been ostentatiously introduced into recent literature, namely, "altruism." What is its meaning? That man should think more and care more for others than for himself, that he should be ready to sacrifice himself, if need be, for the sake of others. This idea is couched in more intelligible, because simpler, language in the text. II. UNFEIGNEDNESS. "Unfeigned love of the brethren" — genuine love, without dissimulation, free from hypocrisy. 1. We read of "faith unfeigned," that is to say, faith which is firm and solid to the core. Faith is oftentimes hollow, simulated. "Faith unfeigned" — faith that will move forward through all the miry bogs of infidelity, that will brave the storm and stress of life. 2. "Love unfeigned" — what then is this? Love which will not give way under trial, that will suffer a burden to be put on its back. III. FERVOUR. 1. This implies that our love of the brethren should be powerful enough to overcome all sinful obstacles in our own nature, to burn up all the relies of selfishness in our own souls, so that we may find our supreme delight in serviceableness to our fellow men. 2. It is further implied that our love should be so intense as to overcome all national and sectarian differences. "Love one another fervently," of whatever nation you may chance to be. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
II. THE INSTRUMENT OF ITS ACCOMPLISHMENT. "Ye obey the truth." God works by instruments in the order of His providential creation and government. God has appointed, in order to the purifying of men's souls, a divinely constituted means. We have the word of truth, the incorruptible seed of which His people are born again. III. ONE SPECIAL RESULT OF THIS WORK. "Unfeigned love of the brethren." (H. Stowell, M. A.)
(W. Arnot.)
1. A change of qualities or dispositions: not a change of the substance of the soul. 2. A super. natural change (John 3:5). 3. A change into the likeness of God (2 Corinthians 3:18). 4. A universal change (2 Corinthians 5:17). 5. A lasting change.(1) The mind is savingly enlightened. In the knowledge of God, sin, self, Jesus Christ, vanity of world (Psalm 119:96). Spiritual things (1 John 2:20).(2) The will is renewed (Ezekiel 36:26). Cured of its utter inability to will what is good. Imbued with a fixed aversion to evil (Galatians 5:17). Endowed with an inclination and propensity to good.(3) The affections are rectified and regulated.(4) The conscience is renewed.(5) As the memory wanted not its share of depravity, it is also bettered by regenerating grace. It is strengthened for spiritual things.(6) There is a change made on the body, and the members thereof, in respect of their use; they are consecrated to the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:13; Romans 6:13), "servants to righteousness unto holiness" (Romans 6:19).(7) This gracious change shines forth in the conversation. A new heart makes newness of life. II. WHY THIS CHANGE IS CALLED REGENERATION, a being born again. It is so called, because of the resemblance between natural and spiritual generation, which lies in the following particulars. 1. Natural generation is a mysterious thing: and so is spiritual generation (John 3:8). 2. In both, the creature comes to a being it had not before. 3. As the child is passive in generation, so is the child of God in regeneration. 4. There is a wonderful contexture of pasts in both births. Oh the wonderful contexture of graces in the new creature! 5. All this, in both cases, has its rise from that which is in itself very small and inconsiderable. 6. Natural generation is carried on by degrees. 7. In both there are new relations. The regenerate may call God Father; for they are His children (John 1:12, 13), "begotten of Him" (chap. 1 Peter 1:3). They are related, as brethren, to angels and glorified saints; "the family of heaven." 8. There is a likeness between the parent and the child (2 Peter 1:4). 9. As there is no birth without pain, so there is great pain in bringing forth the new creature. The soul has sore pains when under conviction and humiliation. (T. Boston, D. D.)
2. Unlike man's mortal life, this new moral life is ever progressive. Like the trees of the forest and the beasts of the field, man's mortal life reaches a culminating point and then dies out. Not so with this new moral life. 3. Unlike man's mortal life, this new moral life is essentially a blessing. Man's mortal life may become, and often is, a curse. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
(J. Trapp.)
(T. Guthrie, D. D.)
1. In order to this, Christianity in its statements, historical and doctrinal, must be in perfect accord with the demonstrations of science in the various departments of knowledge to which it devotes itself. 2. To be perpetuated as the religion of the race, Christianity must not only harmonise with the conclusions of the intellect in other provinces, but must continue to offer new problems of its own. The moment the Bible will be an understood book, it will be a moribund book. And what it proves itself to be to individual man in innumerable cases, that it claims to be to man universal. Let the ages be yet cultivated with greater diligence and trained to a higher point in knowledge than anything we have so far witnessed, and the Gospel has its questions for them, problems which will utterly baffle the finest cultured minds. This assuredly is one element which contributes powerfully to its perpetuity, that the intellect can never minster it. 3. But in a religion which claims perpetuity you would further expect it would stimulate the understanding into greater activity, and infuse new life into all its pursuits. That is to say, it must become the prime factor in the history of the world. Christianity does exercise restraint, not upon progress but upon retrogression; not upon truth but upon sin; not upon the intellect but upon the spirit which is now working in the children of disobedience. It checks the spirit of the nineteenth century, it spurs its science. II. IF CHRISTIANITY IS TO LIVE FOREVER, IT MUST MEET THE MORAL REQUIREMENTS OF EVERY AGE. 1. This implies that it must accord with the distinct dictates of our moral nature. 2. Another requisite, in order to its perpetuation, is that it be in advance of the moral performances of any particular age. 3. Christianity, to endure forever, must enter into the morals of the world as a refining element. War — ferocity — butchery — is that your civilisation? demand our opponents. We answer, Certainly not; that is barbarism. That is not Christianity, but its opposite, and a cogent reason why Christianity should not be thrown aside till they at least have been exterminated. III. IF THE GOSPEL IS TO ENDURE TO THE END OF TIME, IT MUST CONTINUE TO MEET THE SPIRITUAL WANTS OF MAN. If it do not this it is inevitably doomed to extinction. 1. As a sinner, man needs a Saviour. The sinner finds true inward rest in the atonement of the Gospel, the sense of guilt is cancelled. 2. As a creature he needs God. Cast a glance over the history of the world; everywhere the great want is God. What then can give us God? Science does not profess to be able to give Him. Professor Huxley says that the state of mind becoming men of science on this subject is a sort of know nothingarianism or Agnosticism. Well then, if science cannot do it, is there any religion besides Christianity that can? Mahometanism declares the unity and supremacy of God. But to say that God is, and that He is the supreme Ruler, is one thing; to bring Him to the conscious enjoyment of the soul quite another. The religion of India strives to bridge the gap; but instead of communion between man and God, it ends in the absorption of man in God. But however much we desire communion, we quite as much dread absorption. These meet only a fragment of our nature. But Christianity meets the whole man; it presents God to our contemplation in Him in whom "all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily," and to our consciousness by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. As long as man is a sinner needing a Saviour, and a creature needing a God, Christianity will live in the grateful affection of myriads of our race. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
1. The nature of God, as revealed to us in the Scriptures, is the nature from which a gospel might be expected. 2. The gospel, so far as we appreciate it, and so far as we understand the thirsts and wants of human nature, is an all-sufficient gospel for man. 3. A gospel less than the gospel of the grace of God must have left some thirst unslaked, or some necessity unmet, or some wound unhealed, or some tears unwiped away; and while those tears were falling, that wound smarting, that want craving, that thirst burning, there could not have been the experience and enjoyment of complete salvation. 4. A gospel more real and substantial, or more worthy of the world's acceptation, could not have issued even from God. 5. And this gospel is abiding, because it is the incorruptible seed of life everlasting. The old spiritual nature is impregnated with the seed of a new man, a Divine seed and incorruptible, the seed of the truth of the gospel; and the man who has thus received the gospel enters upon a new and eternal life. The gospel now lives in a living mind, and in a living heart, and in a living character; it repeats itself in the believer; and as the character and mission of Jesus Christ may be learned from the written life of Christ, so the gospel may be learned from the spiritual life of him who believes it.Let us now indicate the practical bearing of this doctrine. 1. The text magnifies the gospel. Let us be devoutly careful to preserve its gloriousness in our own eyes. And in order to do this we must reverence the gospel. 2. The text shows that the gospel is intended to be to us personally, and thereby furnishes us with a test of our religious state. The gospel is intended to be the germ of a Godlike life within us, and if it fail of this, it fails of its chief effect. 3. The text points out that in which is continuance; let us take care to handle perishable things as perishable, and to demean ourselves toward the gospel as everlasting. 4. The text suggests the strongest motives for the immediate and universal preaching of the gospel. Flesh is as grass. The man whose days are as grass is dying daily. And it is only here, while he is breathing out his brief life, that his nature can be impregnated with this incorruptible seed. 5. The text encourages us to sustain, and in all respects to provide for, the continuous preaching of the gospel. One after another the preachers of the gospel enter that valley, and are seen no more. But what do they leave behind? The sanctuaries in which they ministered? Yes; but something more. The flocks they tended? Pleasant memories? Yes; but much more. They leave that gospel, written not on tablets of stone, but upon the fleshy tablets of the heart; they leave that gospel more than written — they leave it in many hearts, a seed with a germ of Godlike and eternal life in it; they leave it as a new man, in many who have been born again by it as by incorruptible seed; they leave it in the rich experiences and holy activities of the new man; they leave it in a state imperishable, and they may leave it without anxiety. (S. Martin.)
(C. A. Bartol.)
I. THAT MAN AND HIS GLORY ARE FADING AND WITHERING. All flesh is grass. 1. It is weak, and low, and little as grass. Mankind is indeed numerous as the grass of the field, multiplies, replenishes, and covereth the earth; but like grass, it is of the earth, earthy, mean, and of small account. Alas, the kingdoms of men which make so great a noise, so great a figure, in this lower world, are but as so many fields of grass compared with the bright and glorious constellations of stars, made up of the holy and blessed inhabitants of the upper regions. Proud men think themselves like the strong and stately cedars, oaks, or pines, but they soon find themselves as the grass of the field, liable to be nipped with every frost, trampled on by every foot, continually insulted by common calamities. 2. It is withering, and fading, and dying as grass; having both its rise and maintenance out of the earth, it hastens to the earth, and retires to its root and foundation in the dust. In the morning, perhaps, it is green and growing up, its aspect pleasing, its prospect promising; but when we come to look upon it in our evening work we find it cut down and withered. If it be not cut down by disease or disaster, it will soon wither of itself; it has in it the principles of its own corruption. Is all flesh grass? All, without exception of the noble or the fair, the young or the strong, the well-born or well-built, the well-fed or well-bred? Is all grass, weak and withering?(1) Then let us see ourselves to be grass, and humble and deny ourselves. Is the body grass? Then be not proud, be not presumptuous, be not confident of a long continuance here; forget not that the foot may crush thee. Grass falls; let me not be such a fool as to lay up my treasure in it. Is the body grass? Then let us not indulge it too much, nor bestow too much time and care and pains about it, as many do, to the neglect of the better and immortal part. After all, we cannot keep it from withering, when its day shall come to fall.(2) Let us see others also to be as grass, and cease from man, because he is no more than thus to be accounted of. We are now to consider, not common men, but men of distinction, and to see them withering and falling. 3. Let us inquire, What is the glory of man in this world? There is indeed a glory of man which is counterfeit, and mistaken for glory. Solomon says, "For men to search their own glory is not glory" (Proverbs 25:27). The glory men commonly pursue and search for is no glory at all. Is beauty and comeliness of body the glory of man? So they pass with some who judge by the sight of the eye; but at the best they are only the goodliness of grass; they are a flower which death will certainly cut down; or the end of time will change the countenance; either wrinkled age, or pale death. We should therefore make sure the beauty of grace, the hidden man of the heart, which neither age nor death will sully. Is wealth the glory of man? Laban's sons thought so when they said concerning Jacob. Of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory (Genesis 31:1). But this also is a fading flower, Is pomp and grandeur the glory of a man? That also withers away. Great names and titles of honour are written in the dust. Give me leave to show you some instances of the glory of a man.(1) Is a large capacity of mind the glory of a man?(2) Is learning to be reckoned the glory of a man?(3) Is tenderness and humility, modesty and sweetness of temper, the glory of a man?(4) Is the faithful discharge of the ministry of the gospel the glory of a man?(5) Is great usefulness the glory of a man, and a delight in doing good? Well, here is the glory of man; let us be ambitious of this glory, and not of vain glory. See true honour in the paths of wisdom and virtue, and seek it there. This is honour that comes from God, and is in His sight of great price. 4. Having seen this flower flourishing, we are now to see it withering. As to himself, this glory is not lost, is not stained, by death; it is not like worldly honour, laid in the dust, and buried in the grave; no, this flower is transplanted from the garden on earth to the paradise in heaven, where it shall never fade. The works of good men follow them, but they forsake us, and we are deprived of the benefit of them. II. Though man and glory are fading and withering, YET GOD AND HIS WORD ARE EVERLIVING AND EVERLASTING. The glory of the law was done away, but that of the gospel remains. The glory of ministers falls away, but not the glory of the Word they are ministers of. The prophets, indeed, do not live forever, but the words which God commanded them did, and will take hold, as words quick and powerful. 1. There is in the Word of the Lord an everlasting rule of faith and practice for us to be ruled by.(1) It is our comfort that Christianity shall not die with our ministers, nor that light be buried in their graves.(2) It is our duty not to let our Christianity die with our ministers, hut let the word of Christ contained in the Scriptures still dwell in us richly. 2. There is in the Word of the Lord an everlasting fountain of comfort and consolation for us to be refreshed and encouraged by, and to draw water from with joy, and an everlasting foundation on which to build our hopes. (Matthew Henry.)
1. We are like grass in our relation to the earth. 2. We are like grass in the frailty of our nature. 3. We are like grass in the uncertainty of our lives. The blade dies in all seasons. 4. We are like grass in the unnoticeableness of our dissolution. Blade after blade withers and dies, and the landscape appears as ever. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
1. How affectingly is this sentiment verified in the personal endowments of man, beauty and strength! Survey that animal structure, once so lovely, when it is wrinkled by the hand of time; when it is withered by the action of disease; when it is blasted by the stroke of death. Survey these melancholy changes which await the sons and daughters of Adam, and you will feel the propriety of the sentiment in the text. 2. The wisdom of man, no less than his beauty and strength, serves as an example of the sentiment in the text. In the present age we are accustomed to denounce the systems of former generations as fanciful or crude, and to smile when we hear them dignified by the names of philosophy and science; boasting at the same time that the perfection of philosophy and the arts have been reserved for our own age. Alas! for us, generations will arise that will look back on the nineteenth century, and in their turn laugh at the rudeness of our inventions, the infancy of our science, and the blunders of our philosophy. The fact is, that all knowledge merely human is destined to pass away (1 Corinthians 13:8). 3. We may also adduce as an example of the truth in the text the passing away of all those things which constitute the elegancies and decorations of civilised life; all that is designed to gratify the taste and imagination. Whatever the pencil of the painter has portrayed; whatever the chisel of the sculptor has wrought out; whatever the skill of the architect has raised; whatever the imagination has devised of rare and ornamental in furniture, dress, or manners — all must serve in its turn to show that the goodliness of man is as the flower of the field. 4. I must not omit to bring forward riches as furnishing a verification equally strong of the sentiment of the text. 5. These remarks apply with equal propriety to that idol of many hearts — fame. The historian's pen, the poet's muse, the tablet of marble and brass, all the means which have been employed to perpetuate a name, have only served as a comment on the text. 6. Power and dominion, desired by some and envied by others as the most abiding of human things, are only exemplifications on a larger scale of the truth affirmed in the text. Empires rise and fall; sceptres change hands, thrones are overturned, and one dynasty succeeds another. 7. One other illustration of the affecting sentiment of the text yet remains. The great globe itself, the habitation of fallen man, is destined to pass away! II. THE DURABILITY OF THAT DISPENSATION OF TRUTH WITH WHICH JEHOVAH HAS BLESSED THE WORLD. By the Word of our God I understand Messiah's dispensation, the gospel of the Son of God, with all the fulness of its grace and truth. 1. It is proved that this Word of our God shall stand forever, in spite of all that can be effected to the contrary by persecution. Evangelical truth has outlived the memory of her once mighty foes; has overturned the monuments reared to commemorate her own destruction; and, clothed in celestial radiance and power, has gone on from conquering to conquer! 2. The course of events has shown that the Word of our God shall stand forever, notwithstanding the hostility of infidel men. The religion of Christ Jesus may be compared to an exceeding strong citadel, erected on the summit of an everlasting rock. They alone tremble for its security who are ignorant of its impregnable strength. 3. As a confirmation of the position in the text, that the Word of our God shall stand forever, we may with holy exultation advert to that spread of the Christian religion which has taken place in our day. 4. I may mention as a further proof that the Word of our God shall stand forever, that holy energy with which it is still accompanied. (J. Bromley.)
I. Turning then to THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN CAUSING THE GOODLINESS OF THE FLESH TO FADE, let us, first, observe that the work of the Holy Spirit upon the soul of man in withering up that which is of the flesh, is very unexpected. You will observe that even the speaker himself, though doubtless one taught of God, when he was bidden to cry, said, "What shall I cry?" Even he did not know that in order to the comforting of God's people, there must first be experienced a preliminary visitation. Many preachers of God's gospel have forgotten that the law is the schoolmaster to bring men to Christ. It cannot be that God should cleanse thee until He has made thee see somewhat of thy defilement; for thou wouldst never value the precious blood if thou hadst not first of all been made to mourn that thou art altogether an unclean thing. The convincing work of the Spirit, wherever it comes, is unexpected, and even to the child of God in whom this process has still to go on, it is often startling. We begin again to build that which the Spirit of God had destroyed. Having begun in the Spirit, we act as if we would be made perfect in the flesh; and then when our mistaken up-building has to be levelled with the earth, we are almost as astonished as we were when first the scales fell from our eyes. The voice which saith, "Comfort ye, comfort ye My people," achieves its purpose by first making them hear the cry, "All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." 2. Furthermore, this withering is after the usual order of the Divine operation. If we consider well the way of God we shall not be astonished that He beginneth with His people by terrible things in righteousness. Observe the method of creation. What was there in the beginning? Originally nothing. "The earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." There was no trace of another's plan to interfere with the great architect. So it is in the new creation. When the Lord new creates us, He borrows nothing from the old man, but makes all things new. He does not repair and add a new wing to the old house of our depraved nature, but He builds a new temple for His own praise. 3. I would have you notice that we are taught in our text how universal this process is in its range over the hearts of all those upon whom the Spirit works. "All flesh is grass; and all the goodliness thereof" — the very choice and pick of it — "is as the flower of the field," and what happens to the grass? Does any of it live? "The grass withereth," all of it. The flower, will not that abide? So fair a thing, has not that an immortality? No, it utterly falls away. So wherever the Spirit of God breathes on the soul of man, there is a withering of everything that is of the flesh, and it is seen that to be carnally minded is death. If the work in us be not the Spirit's working, but our own, it will droop and die when most we require its protection. 4. You see, then, the universality of this withering work within us, but notice the completeness of it. The grass, what does it do? Droop? nay, wither. The flower of the field: what of what? Does it hang its head a little? No, according to Isaiah it fades; and according to Peter it falleth away. There is no reviving it with showers, it has come to its end. Even thus are the awakened led to see that in their flesh there dwelleth no good thing. 5. Let us further notice that all this withering work in the soul is very painful. As you read these verses do they not strike you as having a very funereal tone? This is mournful work, but it must be done. All that is of nature's spinning must be unravelled. It was a great merry for our city of London that the great fire cleared away all the old buildings which were the lair of the plague, a far healthier city was then built; and it is a great mercy for a man when God sweeps right away all his own righteousness and strength, when He makes him feel that he is nothing and can be nothing, and drives him to confess that Christ must be all in all, and that his only strength lies in the eternal might of the ever-blessed Spirit. 6. Observe that although this is painful it is inevitable. Why does the grass wither? Because it is a withering thing. "Its root is ever in its grave, and it must die." How could it spring out of the earth and be immortal? The seeds of corruption are in all the fruits of manhood's tree; let them be as fair to look upon as Eden's clusters, they must decay. Moreover, it would never do that there should be something of the flesh in our salvation and something of the Spirit; for if it were so there would be a division of the honour. It gives me great joy when I hear that you unconverted ones are very miserable, for the miseries which the Holy Spirit works are always the prelude to happiness. 7. It is the Spirit's work to wither. Better to be broken in pieces by the Spirit of God than to be made whole by the flesh! What doth the Lord say? "I kill." But what next? "I make alive." He never makes any alive but those He kills. He never hems those whom He has not wounded. II. Now, concerning THE IMPLANTATION. According to Peter, although the flesh withers, arid the flower thereof falls away, yet in the children of God there is an unwithering something of another kind. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed," etc. "The Word of the Lord endureth forever," etc. Now, the gospel is of use to us because it is not of human origin. If it were of the flesh, all it could do for us would not land us beyond the flesh; but the gospel of Jesus Christ is super human, Divine, and spiritual. In its conception it was of God; its great gift, even the Saviour, is a Divine gift; and all its teachings are full of deity. Now this is the incorruptible Word, that "God was made flesh and dwelt among us"; that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." This is the incorruptible Word, that "whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." Do you receive it? Then the Holy Spirit implants it in your soul. Do you leap up to it, and say," I believe it"? Then you possess the living seed within your soul. And what is the result of it? Why, then there comes, according to the text, a new life into us, as the result of the indwelling of the living Word, and our being born again by it. Now observe wherever this new life comes through the Word, it is incorruptible, it lives and abides forever. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
(W. Arnot.)
I. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH THE GOSPEL REVEALS FOR JUSTIFYING THE UNGODLY IS EVERLASTING. Mankind are guilty before God; and what blessing is so necessary as justification? Of what avail are rank, power, wealth, learning, and even Church privileges, of which so many boast, for acceptance with God? What, then, is the glory of the self-justiciary? It is fading and transient as the flowers of the field. And what presumption in sinful mortal man to hold up any of these things, or all of them put together, if that were in his power, as his righteousness, in direct opposition to the declared will of his Creator and Lord. Is the God who made him to be dictated to by him? No. That Word, fixing the mode of acceptance, endureth forever, while the glory which man opposes to it shall wither, and leave its worshippers covered with confusion. The certainty and the perfect reasonableness of this result must impress us more deeply if we consider the character of the righteousness which the Word of the Lord reveals and establishes. It is absolutely perfect, for it includes obedience to both the precept and the penalty of the law of God; it is divinely excellent, for it was performed by the Son of God, who condescended to assume our frail nature that He might perform it; it is the most glorious production of Divine wisdom and love: it hath magnified the law and made it honourable; it hath thus propitiated God and abolished death. II. THE VITAL PRINCIPLE WHICH THE WORD OF GOD INSPIRES IS IMPERISHABLE. The only life which we derive from Adam is feeble, terrestrial, mortal. Its activities, aims, and enjoyments correspond to its nature and origin. They all centre in things worldly and perishing. The gospel is "the ministration of life." The Lord Jesus conveys by it the influences of His quickening Spirit into the soul that was alienated from God and absorbed in earful, and produces in it the new creature, even faith working by love. The truth which the Word testifies concerning Christ being thus known and believed becomes the principle of a new life, the activities of which appear in the outgoings of the soul towards Him in trust, hope, love, gratitude, submission. By the illuminations of His Word Christ lives in that soul, and exerts a mighty power over all its faculties — a power which inspires it with His own views, spirit, and aims. Actuated by the vital principles which His words create — for His words are spirit and life — the mind connects all things with Christ and with God, converts them into means of instruction, into motives to love and obedience, into materials for praise. It regards its most common mercies as the fruits of Divine bounty, the expressions of the Divine goodness and care. It submits to privations and afflictions, and endures them as the salutary discipline of a wise father; and the most ordinary occurrences it contemplates as the dispensations of Him who makes "all things work together for good" to them that love Him. The relations, then, and pleasures, and pains, and intercourse, and pursuits, and occurrences which are peculiar to the present transient state, and which are so insignificant in themselves, because the state to which they belong is so fluctuating and evanescent, rise into dignity and importance, from the influence which the Divine Word exerts on the mind in which it lives, and become the means at once of present fellowship with God and of training up an immortal spirit for a holy and blessed eternity. Now this vital principle, so excellent in itself, is imperishable. In the present state, indeed, its power is small, its activities are feeble and irregular, and, of course, its influence is very limited. But let us recollect that it is only very lately since it came into being, and that it exists in the midst of much which is most hostile to it, and which continually opposes its growth. It shall exist, and notwithstanding the bleakness of the soil in which it is planted, and the noxious exhalations which rise around it and the storms which assail it, shall wax stronger and stronger; for the seed is the Word of the Lord which liveth and abideth forever. III. THE HONOUR TO WHICH THE GOSPEL RAISES BELIEVERS, AND THE BEAUTIES WITH WHICH IT ADORNS THEM, ARE UNFADING. It dignifies them with intimate relations to Christ, introduces them into God's favour, exalts them to be His sons, gives them access with confidence to His gracious presence, a claim on His protection and care, and makes them kings and priests unto God. And these are not only enduring, but ever-increasing honours; at least their transcendent excellence and glory shine with increasing lustre, and the longer and the more fully they are enjoyed they are the more highly valued, and their power to ennoble and to bless is more abundantly experienced and more humbly and gratefully acknowledged. They are enduring, for the loving kindness of God, which is the sum of them all, is immutable, and the charter which conveys them is irrevocable, for it is confirmed by the blood of Christ and the oath of God. IV. EVERY HOPE WHICH IS FOUNDED ON THIS WORD SHALL BE MORE THAN FULFILLED. What blessed hopes does it authorise and encourage the believer to cherish! — the hope that God will never fail him nor forsake him, that the Divine Spirit shall be his guide and comforter, that his heavenly Advocate shall secure to him mercy and grace in every time of need, that the Lord will perfect that which concerneth him. Oh! are not these glorious hopes, not only worthy of intellectual and immortal beings, but hopes which ennoble and purify and bless them! Can the greatest and best portion of worldly good which human heart ever ventured to anticipate bear comparison with them for a single moment? And that hope rests on a sure foundation. It is built on the living and imperishable Word of Him who is eternal and almighty, whose name is Faithful and True, and sooner shall heaven and earth pass than one iota or tittle of His Word remain unfulfilled. (James Stark, D. D.)
II. THE WORD OF GOD LIVETH AND ABIDETH forever; and if we need to receive it into our hearts as the seed of life, so have we need to cherish it there as the support of life — of that life which, beginning here, goes on throughout eternity. Distinctly and forever shall we think of and see before us the Lamb who has redeemed us to God by His blood. Distinctly and forever will His holy law stand out as the law by which we tried to live on earth and by which we cannot fail to live in heaven. (F. Morse, M. A.)
I. The first consolation our text has for this depression is that IT CONTRASTS WITH OUR FRAILTY THE WORD OF THE ETERNAL GOD. It matters little that the worker passes if his work endures. If we had but as firm a faith in "the Word of God" as we have in the results of human investigation, if we were as earnest in the Divine work as in our own, despondency would be at an end. Piety will never be checked, faith will never languish, because "all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." For piety is bent on serving God, and faith receives God's revelation; and though "the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away," "the Word of the Lord endureth forever." II. The next thought suggested by our text is that MAN'S CHANGEFULNESS ILLUSTRATES THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD. The Divine intention is brought out in His dealing with the fleeting generations of men; it becomes venerable in retrospect, while it is ever revealing itself in the freshness of a progressive history. An unvarying history would be a history of death; we gain a vaster idea of permanence by advance than we could ever gain by the continuance of unchanging forms. "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever" — depository of God's creative energy. Another spring sees the grass revive; the trees look down on the renewed face of the earth. So, though men die, humanity endures; the same in its great necessities, the same in its sense of dependence and obligation, with quenchless aspirations ever rising; there is an abiding human heart. And humanity finds the same eternal God, the same object of piety, the inspirer and rewarder of faith, the fountain of an everlasting hope; finds the same salvation, the same Saviour — "Jesus Christ, yesterday and today the same, and forever." There is development in humanity as there is evolution in nature; and this development witnesses to the abiding God, who needs ages to work out His will and reveal His eternal purpose of goodness and grace to waiting man. III. It is not of the eternity of God or of God's rule over the world that our text speaks; it is "THE WORD OF THE LORD," WHICH "ENDURETH FOREVER," We need a revelation; an unrevealed were an unknown God. And yet how can we dream of abiding truth in a changing humanity? As mankind advances will not men's thoughts vary concerning even such fundamental things as moral obligation, the character of virtue, the objects of our devotion, the very being of God? The answer is, there will be development in the Christian faith; a fuller apprehension of its truths, a deeper sympathy with its spirit, a larger experience of its power, a broader application of it to the varying wants of men. But it will be from the old founts that the new inspirations will be drawn; men will turn to Christ and His gospel in every social complication, every conflict of faith, every spiritual need. The world's morals must be Christian morals; the world's religion the Christian faith. We are able to apply the test of history to this prediction. What book is there, eighteen hundred years old, which has the interest for all sorts and conditions of men the gospel has? We look inward, and we find the reason of its perpetuity to lie in its appeal to what is deepest in the soul of man. IV. The enduring Word of God is THE PLEDGE OF OUR ENDURANCE. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." The gospel has been "the salt of the earth," preserving it from decay. Under it the world has renewed its youth, and its last days shall be its best. The love and righteousness, which are first revealed to our faith as ever abiding in God, and then are formed in Us — graces of character as well as objects of faith — are the only things that can endure. The man in whom they are not is dead while he liveth; the man in whom they are shall live, although he die. (A. Mackennal, D. D.)
II. We have here AS EVERLIVING GOSPEL, as full of vitality as when it first came from the lips of God, as strong to convince and convert, to regenerate and console, to sustain and sanctify, as ever it was in its first days of wonder working. III. We have AN UNCHANGING GOSPEL, which is not today green grass and tomorrow dry hay, but always the abiding truth of the immutable Jehovah. Opinions alter, but truth certified by God can no more change than the God who uttered it. IV. Here, then, we have A GOSPEL TO REJOICE IN, a Word of the Lord upon which we may lean all our weight. "Forever" includes life, death, judgment, and eternity. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
I. IT IS SECURE, WHATEVER MAY BE THE EFFORTS OF POSSIBLE PERSECUTION. I do not say that you will not have apparent triumphs on the part of the persecutors. False brethren will fall away, but God's truth, somehow or other, will still survive, and He to whom that truth pertains and whose Word we are speaking will make it good in spite of opposition, and make it good in the oppressions of His faithful servants, strengthening them with strength in their souls, turning curse into blessing, and making the wrath of man to praise Him, whilst the remainder of that wrath He will restrain. II. THE OLD GOSPEL IS IN NO DANGER WHATEVER FROM THE INTELLECTUAL OPPOSITION OF OUR MODERN INFIDELS. Here and there we have the sound of triumph on the part of our adversaries. Reading their literature, as some of us do, we find those triumphs much more frequent perhaps than some of you may suppose; but what are the triumphs? They are not triumphs over the old gospel as it came down from heaven. You have had things incorporated with Christianity which God never put there — they are disproved; you have had opinions foisted upon the gospel from the traditions of men — they are being detached; you have had interpretations of Holy Scripture which are undoubtedly untrue — you have had them put to silence. But need I say that such victories are not against us? They are on our side! To get rid of error is to get rid of so much dead weight; and although the discomfiture of a Christian man, when the traditions which he has maintained are taken from beneath him, may not be that which he likes, yet such discomfiture is so much clear gain to the Christian cause, and that clear gain it will go on to acquire. III. THE OLD GOSPEL IS IN NO DANGER FROM THE DISCOVERIES OF OUR SCIENTIFIC MEN. I know of no statement so popular amongst the foes of the Christian faith as this, that the teachings of our sacred books are at variance with the teachings of the natural sciences; at variance, for example, with the teachings of astronomy, of archaeology, and especially of geology. Not one of those sciences whispers a coming contradiction to your Bibles; not one of them foretokens a coming time when you will have either to give up that book or to deny indisputable facts. IV. THE OLD GOSPEL IS IN NO DANGER FROM THE ADVANCEMENT OF CIVILISATION. How is civilisation advancing! What a power is that of our commerce, our literature, our science, our art, our philanthropy, our moral and intellectual philosophy! There is much about it to be admired; it softens asperities, conciliates antagonism, refines the manners, elevates the character, combines and consolidates into one the entire family of man. Wondrous is the good which it has been doing, and wondrous is the good of which it is itself the representative and the embodiment. Tell us that civilisation will be the destroyer of Christianity! Why, abstract from your modern civilisation that which Christianity has imparted to it, and you have just that which very presently, by common consent, would be buried and out of sight. Why, it is the very child which your Christianity has brought forth; it is the very creation of which Christianity in her pure exuberance is instrumentally the creator. You might just as well think of this great superstructure in which we are assembled existing without a foundation as to think of modern civilisation existing without Christianity. V. THE OLD GOSPEL IS IN NO DANGER FROM THE ULTERIOR NECESSITIES OF HUMANITY. There may be species of human necessity that have never yet come to light in our acquaintance with mankind; and there may be species that never will come to light, except it be in some further and advanced stage of the history of our race. The capacities, the susceptibilities, and the activities of the human soul are perfectly wonderful. Give to that human soul the opportunity, the means, and the appliances which may be requisite, and where is the man that will tell me what deeper depths of the emotional he may evince, what mightier forces of the intellectual he may disclose, what intenser sympathy with the diabolical he may display, and what more glowing apprehensions of the immortal he may manifest? Abide by your old gospel with an unfaltering faith. Let that time come, and be it present to your eye now, when there shall be powers of investigation to which there is no parallel now; there will be the message to the man who possesses that power of investigation — Go and investigate the great "mystery of godliness." Be your power what it may, it will find its occupation there. Be it so, that there shall be a capability for apprehension to which there is no parallel now: the commandment will be — Go and take the "unspeakable gift" of God, and try and find the occupation for your apprehension there. Be it so that there is guilt perpetrated — and who can tell after what we see ourselves what forms of guilt may be perpetrated? — be it that guilt is perpetrated at which even the devil stands aghast: there is "the blood that cleanseth from all sin"; let the sinner go and be cleansed and pardoned by that. Be it so that there will be unparalleled sympathy with and aspiration for the immortal; let the man who is the subject of such aspirations go and try to understand the "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Oh! there is no danger for the old gospel! You may have philosophy sublimated, until that with which we are familiar shall be as nothing side by side with your philosophy; transcendently superior will be the glorious gospel of the blessed God, and so far from being inadequate to man's requisitions then, it will supply, with an amplitude which is imperial, all that shall be required. So far from being effete and obsolete, it will exist with living and with royal power; so far from being, as we are told, an exploded superstition, an exhausted fountain, an ancient, decrepit, infirm, unavailable messenger of good, there it will be, in all the vigour of its youth, proclaiming salvation through the blood of the Lamb, and declaring to mankind in its highest elevation there is a higher elevation still. "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil, that is understanding." This Word of the Lord wilt be all adequate to the necessities and the requirements of humanity. (W. Brock.)
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
2. But remember that even this mighty Word has power to bless and save only as it is believed and obeyed. Alas! how is this simple truth wilfully forgotten by multitudes who may yet be said to be exemplary in their attendance on public ordinances! 3. Let me ask those of you who profess faith in the gospel whether your obedience of the truth is such as purifies your souls from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit; whether, in particular, it has tended in any measure to a brotherly love unfeigned. (J. Lillie, D. D.). The Biblical Illustrator, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com Bible Hub |
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