1 Peter 1
Exposition by C H Spurgeon
It must have been very pleasant to his
heart to write those words, — not “Peter, who denied his Master, “not”
Peter, full of imperfections and infirmities, the impetuous and changeable
one of the twelve; “but” Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,” as truly
sent of God as any of the other apostles, and with as much of the Spirit of
his Master resting upon him: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,” —
1Peter 1:1, 2. To the strangers scattered
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect
accordingly to the foreknowledge of God the Father,-
You might go for fifty years to some
places of worship, and never hear the word “elect” even mentioned. Modern
ministers seem to be ashamed of the grand old doctrine of election; but it
was not so with the apostles and the early Christians, they were accustomed
to speak of one another as the elect of God. The doctrine of election was
most precious to their hearts, and therefore Peter writes: “elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father,” —
So may it be to all of you who are gathered here; grace first, and peace
next; but may both grace and peace be multiplied unto you! Much grace, and
much peace, may you have, brethren and sisters in Christ Jesus!
How sweetly the apostle is obeying his Master’s command, “When thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren.” This is the same Peter who once began
to sink beneath the waves, yet now he is helping others to stand. This is
the very Peter who denied his plaster, but he begins his Epistle by owning
himself to be “an apostle of Jesus Christ.” What wonders the Lord Jesus
had wrought for Peter by his grace! It is no marvel, therefore, that he
should say to others, “Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”
1 Peter 1:1, 2. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers
scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia. Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of
the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace
unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
The first Christians were not so
afraid of the doctrine of election as some are now-a-days. Peter was not
ashamed to address the saints as the elect of God, for so, indeed, they are,
if they be saints at all. It is he that chose them, not because they were
sanctified, but that they might be sanctified — chose them to eternal life
through sanctification. Oh! happy are they who by grace have made their
calling and election sure, and now ascribe all the glory of their salvation
to the sovereign choice of God. “Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied.”
1Peter 1:2. Through sanctification of the
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace
unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
We not only need grace, but we need
much grace, and also peace, and we need a greatly increased measure of both
those blessings. Do not be satisfied, dear brethren and sisters in Christ,
with the grace that you already have. Be thankful for it, but ask for the
divine multiplication of it; regard the grace which you have already
received as being like the boy’s loaves and fishes, and expect that Christ
will continue to multiply it for you and for thousands of others round about
you: “Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”
1Peter 1:3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,—
And, truly, this is a blessing, beyond all comparison or imagination, that
we have been begotten again by the Divine Esther unto a “living” hope, for
that is a better rendering than “lively.” Our first birth brought us into
sin and sorrow, but our second birth brings us into purity and joy. We were
born to die; now are we born never to die, “begotten again” unto a life
that shall remain in us for evermore, a life which shall even penetrate
these mortal bodies, and make them immortal, “by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead.”
1 Peter 1:3-5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven
for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready
to be revealed in the last time.
What a vast mass of meaning is packed away in these words! Men’s books, even
when they are good, are like gold-leaf; a little precious metal is very
thinly hammered out so as to cover a wide surface, but almost every word in
the Bible seems to contain a whole mine of heavenly wealth.
Note, beloved, what Peter says concerning your new birth; you are begotten
by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. At your first birth, you
were born in sin; but now you have been born again, through grace, by the
almighty power of God. Notice, also, unto what you are born, — unto a hope
that is full of life, a lively hope, a hope of immortality a hope whose root
is in the grave of Christ, the empty grave from which he has risen, and
which is the assurance that because he has risen, you also shall rise. See,
further, to what you have been born: “to an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away.” See, also, how that inheritance is
entailed upon you, for it is “reserved in heaven for you;” and see, too,
how you are kept for it, for you “are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
How full of grace every sentence is.
He blesses God because God has so freely blest us; and he abounds in
thanksgiving because he sees that abundant mercy, by which believers have
been begotten again — born again — made, therefore, children after a new
sort, and so made heirs of an inheritance very different from that upon
which we enter by nature “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and
that fadeth not away.” Brethren and sisters, if you have, indeed, been born
by divine grace, to what estates are you born — to what high dignities and
saved privileges! Rejoice and bless the Lord. But, perhaps, the dark fear
crossed your mind that, perhaps, after all, you may perish and miss the
inheritance. Now, notice the double consolation of a double keeping. The
inheritance is kept. It is reserved in heaven for you, and you are kept,
too. It is kept for you, and you are kept for it, “For you, who are kept by
the power of God, through faith, unto salvation.”
Oh, what a blessed hope this is, — that, though we fall asleep, we shall
surely wake again; and when we awaken, it will be in the likeness of the
great Head of the family, and we ourselves shall be heirs of an inheritance
in which there will be no sin and no corruption. That inheritance is kept
for us, and we are kept for it; so the double keeping makes it doubly sure.
Happy are the people to whom these verses apply.
1Peter 1:4, 5. To an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that faith not away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Joy, my brethren, in the glorious inheritance which is prepared for you,
unstained, uncorrupted, perfectly pure, and therefore to last for ever,
because the elements which produce decay are not in it. It is without sin,
and therefore it shall be without end. What a mercy it is to be “kept by
the power of God”! See, heaven is kept for us, and we are kept for heaven;
heaven is prepared for us, and we are prepared for heaven. There is a double
action of God’s grace thus working in us, sad working for us, unto bliss
eternal.
1Peter 1:6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations:
What! can there be rejoicing and
heaviness in the same heart at the same time? Oh, yes! our experience has
taught us that we can be at the same moment, in heaviness of heart and yet
rejoicing in the Lord.
Or, “trials.” Some people cannot comprehend how a man can greatly rejoice,
and yet be in heaviness at the same time; but there are many things, in a
Christian’s experience, that cannot be understood except by those who
experience them; and even they God many a mystery which can only be
expressed by a paradox. There are some who think that God’s people should
never be heavy in spirit; but the apostle says, “Now for a season, if need
be, ye are in heaviness.” He does not say, “If need be, ye are in manifold
trials;” but, “If need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold trials,”
for the “needs be” is as much for the depressed spirit as for the trials
themselves.
It is possible, in Christian experience, for a man to rejoice greatly and
yet to be in heaviness. No man can explain this paradox to his fellow, yet
he understands it himself. “In heaviness through manifold trials,” yet
greatly rejoicing in the full conviction that they will soon be over, and
that then we shall enter into unutterable joy. Be of good courage, then, you
who are now depressed, you who are in heaviness; “lift up your heads, for
your redemption draweth nigh.” The fiery furnace is very hot; but the Son
of man is in it with you; and, by his grace, you shall come out of the
furnace before long.
This is your life. This is like a
rainbow made up of the drops of earth’s sorrow in the beams of heaven’s love
a happy combination, after all.
1 Peter 1:7. That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with
fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ.
Gilt looks very much like gold but it
will not stand the fire. It curls and disappears. Oh! to be solid gold
through and through. If so, you need not mind the trials of to-day, since
they will only prepare you for the glories eternal at the appearing of Jesus
Christ.
1Peter 1:7, 8.
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 Amour and glory at tice appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having
not seen, we love; in whorn, though now ye see him not, pet believing, ye
rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of glory:
And does not the joy agree well with the object of it? Paul said, “Thanks
be unto God for his unspeakable gift;” and Peter, speaking of the same
Savior, says, “In whose, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”
Ah! love can embrace him whom the eyes cannot see, and the hands cannot
hold.
1 Peter 1:8-10. In whom,
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of
your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and starched
diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
I have heard of some divines who will never read, and never study, because
they have such an abundant measure of the Spirit of God that they can talk
any quantity of nonsense extemporaneously! But it was not so with the
prophets. They had very much of the Spirit of God; yet, for all that, they
were most diligent students. They “enquired and searched diligently,” —
even those prophets “who prophesied of the grace that should come unto
you.” I have a very grave suspicion of that so-called “inspiration” which
enables a man to preach without study. If there were such a thing, it would
be a premium upon laziness; and I feel sure that the Spirit of God would
never countenance such a thing as that.
1 Peter 1:8-10 Whom having not seen, ye love
in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and
searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you.
Prophets knew about you. They did not
taste of the grace you know, but through the vista of the future they
foresaw it, and they almost envied you in this gospel dispensation that you
should live in so clear a light, and should be fed upon such rare mercies.
Oh! what prophets and kings longed for, do not let us despise, and we shall
despise these mercies if we do not make the most of them by entering into
the fullness of the joy which they are meant to bring to us. These prophets
searched diligently.
1Peter 1:7-9. 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 honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; in whom though now ye see
him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
You have that already if you have
believed in Jesus, you have received; a present, immediate salvation. There
are some who do not understand or realize this, they miss the whole joy of
our holy religion. They are always hoping to be saved by-and-by; but those
who are in Christ Jesus by a living personal faith receive here and now the
end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls.
1Peter 1:9-11. Receiving the end of pour faith, even the salvation of your saute.
Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should
follow.
Do you wonder if, sometimes, you find in the Bible a truth which you cannot
quite comprehend? You ought not to marvel, for even the prophets, who
prophesied of the grace which has come to us, did not always fully
understand their own messages. I am sure that their inspiration was verbal,
because the inspired men frequently did not themselves know the meaning of
what they were moved to write.
1 Peter 1:11, 12.
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was- in
them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and
the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven;
The prophets lived for us; they were inspired for us; and the benefits of
their holy lives and gracious words are for us upon whom the ends of the
earth have come.
1 Peter 1:11-12. Searching what, or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should
follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us
they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that
have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven;
which things the angels desire to look into.
See you not your privilege, then? You
have what prophets had not. You enjoy what angels desire to see. They cannot
enjoy what you do Rightly does our hymn put it: —
“Never did angels
taste above
Redeeming grace and dying love.”
And you have, this very day.
1 Peter 1:12. Which things the
angels desire to look into.
They, as well as the prophets, are deep students of the unsearchable
mysteries of Christ.
See the kind of preaching that we should all desire to hear, and that all
God’s ministers should aim at: “them that have preached the gospel unto you
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.” Nothing but a gospel full of
the energy of the Holy Ghost, and set on fire by him, can effect the eternal
purposes of God; but this is the kind of preaching that will live, and that
will also make men live. God send it to every church and congregation
throughout the world! Amen.
1Peter 1:10-12. Of which salvation the
prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace
that should come unto you: searching what or what manner of the time the
Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was
revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the
things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the
gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the
angels desire to look into.
Observe, dear brethren, that the
prophets did not speak without due consideration, but they “enquired and
searched diligently” into the meaning of that salvation of which they
“testified beforehand.” Holy Scripture must not be read by us carelessly.
We ought to peer, and pry, and search into it to get at its hidden meaning,
and the prophecies as well as the rest of the Word are to be searched into
by us upon whom the ends of the earth have come.
Observe, also, that this divine revelation is of great interest to the holy
angels before the throne of God; they stand gazing down as if they were
trying to understand the wondrous mystery of redemption, and the great and
glorious gospel of the grace of God.
1Peter 1:13-16. Wherefore gird up the loins
of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be
brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children,
not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation; because it is written, be ye holy; for I am holy.
This is Peter’s practical application of the greet truths of which he had
been writing. “Look ahead, and expect great things. Live in the future.
Project your thoughts beyond the centuries that are passing away into the
ages which will never die.”
Pull yourself together; be not mentally and spiritually in dishabille; but,
be girt ready for holy running or snored wrestling: “Gird up the loins of
your mind,”
Be not only moral, upright, truthful,
and so forth; but “be ye holy.” That is a very high attainment: “Be ye
holy;” and observe the reason for obedience to the command: “for I am
holy.” Children should be like their fathers, there are many children who
bear, in their very faces, evidence, of their sonship; you know who their
fathers were by the image that the children bear. Oh, that it were always so
with all the children of God: “Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:13. Wherefore gird up the loins of
your mind,
Be ready to depart to your
inheritance. Do not let your garments flow carelessly and loosely, as though
you had no journey before you, but “gird up the loins of your mind.”
1 Peter 1:13. Be sober, and hope to the end
for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ.
That is a very blessed subject. There
is a grace that was brought to you when Christ first came. There is another
grace and a higher grace that is to be brought to you when Christ shall come
the second time. Until that second coming of Christ, the church on earth and
in heaven cannot be perfected. The bodies of the saints wait in the grave
till he comes to give them resurrection.
“O long expected
day, begin!
Dawn on these realms of woe and sin.”
For we wait for thy appearing, O Christ.
1Peter 1:14, 15.
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the
former lusts in pour ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so
be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
Remember that you can never be really whole till you are holy, for holiness
is spiritual sanity; it is the caring of the mind and heart from the disease
which sin brought upon them.
1Peter 1:16. Because it is
written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Children of God, be like your Father; prove that you are his true children
by manifesting his character. Let his lineaments be seen in your
countenance: “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” The Revised Version is, “Ye
shall be holy; for I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:14-16. As obedient children, not
fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But
as he which hath called you is holy, as be ye holy in all manner of
conversation: Because it its written. Be ye holy; for I am holy.
See your model. See the copy to which
you are to write. You are far short of it. Try again. May the power of Jesus
rest upon you, and may he that hath wrought us to the self-same thing to
which we have attained continue to work in us till we are like our Lord
himself!
1Peter 1:17. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth
according to every man’s work, pass the time of pour sojourning here in
fear:
Be not presumptuous. Ever remember that, as there is a God who is to judge
every man, you are to be judged; and oh, that you might, through his grace,
be in such a condition of heart that you shall stand the last test, and be
found to be full weight when you are put into the balances of the sanctuary
which God shall hold with steadfast hand!
In holy fear; — not in servile, slavish fear, but in a blessed state of
sacred timidity and awe lest you should offend your God and Savior.
You are only here for a while, you are
sojourners, foreigners, pilgrims passing through a country where you have no
abiding place; be therefore careful and even fearful lest you should become
like the people among whom you dwell, have a holy dread of the
contaminations of sin: “Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:” —
1 Peter 1:17. And if ye call on the
Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s
work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
Not in unbelieving fear, but in that
holy carefulness which watches against sin of every kind lest in any way you
should spoil your holy work for God.
1Peter 1:18, 19.
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot:
You have seen the character of your Father who is in heaven; this should
urge and help you to be like him, holy. Now you see the character of your
Redeemer, “a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Let this influence
you to be holy, too.
1 Peter 1:18, 19. Forasmuch as ye know that
ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the
precious blood of Christ
As your redemption cost so much, prize
it highly, and do not go back to the sin from which you have been so dearly
redeemed. Fear lest you should do so. Remember that heredity has a great
power over you; the traditions of your fathers will imperceptibly draw you
back unless you watch against them. But you have been so gloriously redeemed
with the very blood of Christ’s heart that you must not draw back.
1Peter 1:18-21. Forasmuch as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who
verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him
up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in
God.
Jesus Christ, from the dead, and this
is our joy to-day. This is one of the facts, which are proved beyond all
question, that Jesus Christ, who died upon the cross, and was buried in
Joseph’s tomb, did actually rise again. This is the corner-stone of the
Christian faith; one of the great facts upon which we found our confidence
as to salvation by Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:18-25. Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe
in God that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith
and hope might be in God.
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit
unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a
pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For
all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The
grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the
Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached
unto you.
1Peter 1:20, 21. Who
verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him
up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in
God.
It is no use to place them anywhere else. All other vessels are too frail to
bear such a heavy burden; but, if your faith and hope are in God, then you
have a security which none can destroy.
1Peter 1:22. 23. Seeing ye have purified
your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of
the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
God’s Word never dies, God’s Word
never changes. There are some who think we ought to get a new gospel every
few years or even every few weeks, but that was not Peter’s notion. He
wrote, and he was divinely inspired to write, concerning “the Word of God,
which liveth and abideth for ever.”
1 Peter 1:22, 23. Seeing ye have purified
your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of
the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
being born again
See how this love of the brethren is
linked on to regeneration. The first time we are born, we are born in sin,
and that tends to hate, but when we are born again, born unto God, our life
tends to love. “Being born again,”-
1 Peter 1:23. Not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Peter reminds us, in the 18th verse,
that we were not redeemed with corruptible things, but with incorruptible;
and he here reminds us that we are “born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible.” Everything about a Christian means his deliverance
from corruption, and the bringing of him into a state of immortality and
incorruption.
1Peter 1:22-25. Seeing ye have periled your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another
with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible, by the word of God, which, liveth and abideth for ever.
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.
The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of
the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is
preached unto you.
Blessed be God for an everlasting gospel, founded on the everlasting
covenant, which bringeth with it everlasting life to all those who believe
in Christ Jesus the Lord.
1 Peter 1:24, 25. For all flesh is as grass
and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and
the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the lord endureth for ever.
Everything earthly is corruptible;
that which is merely natural has its season of decay, but the children of
God have the Word of the Lord abiding in them, and that never dies; it has
no autumn or winter.
1 Peter 2
Exposition by C H Spurgeon
1 Peter 2:1-3. Wherefore laying aside
all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye
may grow thereby: if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
When the apostle describes us under
the character of “newborn babes,” he would have us lay aside all that is
inconsistent with that character. Newborn children have no malice; they have
no guile or craftiness; they have no hypocrisies, nor envies, nor evil
speakings. They are clear from all these evils; would God we were as clear
as they are! It would be better to be infants, not speaking at all, than to
be among those who speak evil. It would be better to begin life over again
than to live long enough to have gained a treasure of malice, and a hoard of
cunning, and to have learned the tricks of hypocrisy. Let us be as simple as
little children, as guileless, as harmless, as free from anything like
unkindness as newborn babes are. And inasmuch as we are to fellow them in
what they have not, let us also imitate them in what they have. Let us
desire ardently, as for our very life, the unadulterated milk of the Word.
Let us cultivate that combination of hunger and thirst which is found in a
little child, that we may hunger and thirst thus after God’s Word. We have
done more than taste the Word; we have tasted that the Lord himself is
gracious. Let us long to feast more and more upon this divine food, that we
may grow thereby.
1 Peter 2:1-3. Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and
hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire
the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if so be ye have
tasted that the Lord is gracious.
If you have once had that sweet taste
in your mouths, you will wish to have it always there, and you may do so if
you continue to drink the unadulterated milk of the Word, and do not sour
that good milk through tempests of malice, and envy, and evil speaking.
1 Peter 2:1. Wherefore laying aside all
malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies and envies, and all evil speakings,
Putting these evil things right away
from you, having nothing further to do with any of them. Notice the
repetition of the word “all.” “All malice, and all guile,” — everything
in the shape of deceit, — “and all evil speakings.” All these are to be
put away by all believers, as rags are put away in the rag-bucket, or refuse
on the dunghill.
1 Peter 2:1. Wherefore laying
aside all malice,
This is one of the old corruptible
things, so put it away from you
1 Peter 2:1. And all guile,
All crafty tricks, all falsehood,
exaggeration, double meanings to your words, and the like,-
1 Peter 2:1. And hypocrises, and envies,
All hatred of those who are either
better or better off than you are,-
1 Peter 2:1. And all evil speaking,
Thus the tongue expresses what the
heart feels. Laying all these evil things aside, you will prove that you
have been born again, born of the incorruptible seed which liveth and
abideth for ever.
1 Peter 2:1. Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and
hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,-
This is what we are to lay aside, to put away from us, to banish altogether.
These are the old garments of the flesh which we are to give up to the moths
that they may devour them, and leave not a fragment of the old rags for us
to wear. “Laying aside all malice.” Has anybody injured you? Are you angry
with him because of what he has done to you? Thou freely forgive the injury,
and wholly forget it. “and all guile.” That is, everything that is of the
nature of craftiness and deception. Be honest, simple, straightforward,
transparent; this is a trait of character which well becomes all Christians.
“And hypocrisies” of all sorts. Let us not profess to be what we are not,
nor pretend to know what we do not know, or talk of experiences which we
have never felt; in fact, let us never be hypocrites in any respect
whatsoever. The God of truth loves his children to be the embodiments of
truth. Hypocrisy he hates with a perfect hatred. “And envies.” We must lay
them all aside, all envies of men because they are richer, or more gifted,
or more highly esteemed than we are. Let us not envy anybody, for envy eats
a man’s own heart out and slays him, as Eliphaz said to Job “Envy slayeth
the silly one.” “And all evil speakings.” We are not to be the repeaters
of stories to the discredit of others, or to make up or to exaggerate any
evil reports concerning anything in their lives. Let us have nothing to do
with “evil speakings” of any kind. Lay all these rags aside. Is any one of
them still clinging to you? Let it be laid aside this very hour.
1 Peter 2:2. As newborn babes desire the
sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
Be glad to get simple truth, the
“milk of the Word.” Even if you can digest the strong meat of the Word,
never grow weary of the milk, for it is always good diet even for a
full-grown man in Christ. Do not crave milk and water, but “desire the
unadulterated milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby.” It is not enough
for you to be spiritually alive, you must grow; and especially while you are
babes in grace, your great desire should be that you may grow.
1
Peter 2:2. As newborn
babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
The unadulterated “milk of the Word” is the best food for those who are,
spiritually, “newborn babes.” Desire this unadulterated milk of the Word
not out of an idle curiosity,-but that you may grow thereby, that you may
grow wiser, holier, more earnest, more like your Savior,-that you may grow
up into the likeness of Him whose you are, and whom you serve.
1 Peter 2:2. As newborn babes, desire the
sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
You are in the family of God, but you
are only babes in it yet; you have to grow to the stature of men in Christ
Jesus, so “desire the sincere (unadulterated) milk of the word, that ye may
grow thereby.” There is no other way of growing.
1 Peter 2:3. If so be ye have tasted that the
Lord is gracious.
You begin with tasting that the Lord
is gracious, you go on to desire the unadulterated milk of the Word, and so
you grow in grace more and more.
1
Peter 2:3. If so be ye have
tasted that the Lord is gracious.
If you have spiritually tasted this great truth, you have the flavour of it
upon your palate, so that it makes you long for more of it.
1 Peter 2:3, 4. If so be ye have tasted that
the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone,-
So that “the Lord” here meant is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is truly “a living stone,”-
1 Peter 2:4. Disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God, and precious,-
When men disallow Christ, it is a
matter of small account to us, as for what they have to say, it is less than
nothing and vanity. Like the wild bluster of the winds, let it bluster until
it has blown itself out. Christ is “disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God, and precious,”-
1 Peter 2:4. To whom coming, as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.
No one figure is sufficient to set
forth Christ as he really is. A stone is a Scriptural simile and symbol of
Christ, but we have to make the metaphor somewhat incongruous by comparing
him to “a living stone.”
1
Peter 2:4. To whom coming,-
That is, unto the Lord; and that name Peter evidently gives to Jesus Christ,
and therefore we worship him, and call him, each one for himself or herself,
even as Thomas did, “My Lord and my God.” “To whom coming,” —
1 Peter 2:4. To whom coming,-
We should be always coming to Christ;
we have come to him, and we-are coming to him, and we will keep on coming to
him: “To whom coming,”-
1 Peter 2:4. As unto a living stone,-
Sinking down, settling, resting on
that stone,-always pressing closely upon Christ: “To whom coming, as unto a
living stone,”-
1 Peter 2:4. Disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God, and precious,
Christ always was disallowed of men,
and he always will be, until the great consummation of all things. Some
disown him in one way, some in another. Some boldly blaspheme him with
something like honesty; others pretend to be his ministers, yet all the
while are undermining the gospel which he lived and died to preach. It
matters little that Christ is “disallowed indeed of men,” for he is
“chosen of God, and precious.”
1 Peter 2:4, 5. Disallowed indeed of men,
but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a
spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
All of you, who are in Christ Jesus,
are the living stones in this spiritual temple; and you are also priests,
who offer up spiritual sacrifices. You need no material temple, for you are
yourselves the temple. You need no other priest save the great High Priest
who has gone into the heavenly, for you are yourselves priests unto the Most
High God.
1
Peter 2:5. As unto a living stone, disallowed instead of men, but chosen of God,
and precious,-
“Chosen of God.” The whole spiritual building is the result of the
election, the choice of God. Jesus Christ, the great foundation and the
chief corner stone, is chosen of God, and all the living stones that are
built upon him are also chosen of God. The whole fabric is like the
foundation upon which it is laid: “Chosen of God, and precious,” —
precious to God and precious to us.
1
Peter 2:5. Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual horse, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
We hear of certain persons being “ordained” first deacons and then
priests, but all who are truly in Christ, whether they are men, or women, or
children, are priests. We are “a holy priesthood” if we are in Christ.
All the sacrifices that can now be offered are
spiritual sacrifices, which are to be offered, not by a few special persons
set apart for that work, but by the whole company of God’s chosen people,
and so they are “acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:5. Ye also, as living stones, —
It is not “lively” stones, it is the
same word, in the original, in both cases, — “a living stone” and “living
stones.” The translators of our Authorized Version have often rendered the
same Hebrew or Greek word in a different way, which is a pity, as it is in
this instance: “Ye also, as living stones,” —
1 Peter 2:5. We built up a spiritual house, —
A house that is a living structure
from the foundation to the topstone.
1 Peter 2:5. An holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifice, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
He is a living stone, and you, as
living stones, are built upon him, and he and you together make up a living
spiritual house, and in order that the house may have suitable tenants, and
be properly furnished, you also become priests, and, as priests, you “offer
up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:5. Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house, an holy priest-hood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
See what Jesus Christ has made of you
who believe in him; by the incorruptible blood and the incorruptible seed,
he has brought you into a heavenly priesthood, and you are to-day to stand
at the spiritual altar, and “to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ.” Will you not pray, will you not praise, will you
not love? These are sacrifices with which God is well pleased.
1 Peter 2:6. Wherefore also it is contained in
the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious:
and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
Thus the apostle quotes from the
prophet Isaiah the ancient prophecy concerning Christ.
1
Peter 2:6. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion
a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. See Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 1,429, “Faith’s
Sure Foundation.”
Those who believe on him are built upon him; they rest upon him, they are
cemented to him; and being living stones they grow into him, and he grows
into them; they participate in his life, and so the living temple becomes
one, the chosen men and women who are the spiritual temple in which God
dwells upon earth. We need not wonder if, like the chief corner stone, we
are disallowed of men, but we may rejoice that, like our Lord and Savior, we
are “chosen of God, and precious.”
1 Peter 2:6. Are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by
Jesus Christ,
You mind have noticed, in reading the
New Testament, that you never find the officers of a church called priests.
Whenever that term is used by way of illustration, it is applied to all the
people of God. They are all priests but, under the Christian dispensation,
there is no set of men who have any right to take that title above their
fellow-believers. All those who believe in Jesus Christ are priests, every
one of them as much as all the others; and the assumption of priesthood
under the Christian dispensation is most truly the repetition of the sin of
Korah, Dathan, and Abirain, though the men who commit it usually try to lay
the guilt of that sin at the doors of other people. We ministers are no more
priests than all of you who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are; we shake
our skirts at the very thought of such wickedness; and cry, “God for bid
that we should, with unhallowed hands, try to steal away from God’s people
what is the right and prerogative of them all!” “Ye also, as living
stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:6. Wherefore also it is contained in
the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious:
and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
Put all your trust in Jesus, for you
will never have cause to regret doing so. The text, in the Old Testament,
from which Peter quoted, says, “He that believeth shall not make haste;”
he shall not need to be in a hurry, he shall enjoy the holy leisure which
springs from a quiet confidence where confidence ought to he placed. O
beloved, stay yourselves on Christ! Rest your whole weight on him, for then,
“you shall not be confounded.”
1 Peter 2:6, 7. Wherefore also it is
contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone,
elect, precious: and he that beIieveth on him shall not be confounded. Unto
you therefore which believe he is precious.
Is he not? Then, enjoy his
preciousness all of you who truly believe in him. Precious Christ, precious
to all his people, precious to me!
1 Peter 2:6-8. Wherefore also is it contained
in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect,
precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you
therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the
corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which
stumble at the word, being disobedient whereunto also they were appointed.
God grant that we may not be found
among that unholy company, who, rejecting Christ as a foundation, stumble
over him, and, in consequence, find themselves broken to pieces.
1 Peter 2:7. Unto you therefore which believe
he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the
builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
Here Peter quotes from Psalm 118:22.
What reverence these inspired men had for the inspired Book! The Spirit of
God could have spoken fresh words if he had pleased, but, as if he meant to
honor above everything else the Book which he had himself inspired, he
“moved” Peter to quote the ancient prophet and psalmist in confirmation of
what he was writing.
1
Peter 2:7. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious:
He is preciousness, he is an honor, he is everything that is glorious to
you. You can never think highly enough of him, or speak well enough
concerning him. All the world beside may disallow him, but unto you he is
precious.
1 Peter 2:7. Unto you therefore which believe
he is precious
“He is an honor,-he is your honor,
your glory, your boast.” It is an honorable thing to be a believer in a
Lord so glorious as he is, in a gospel so reasonable as his gospel is, in
promises so certain of fulfillment as his promises are, in an atonement so
effectual as his atonement is, and in a Master so omnipotent as he is:
“Unto you therefore which believe he is an honor:”
1 Peter 2:7, 8. But unto them which be
disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the
head of the corner and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to
them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were
appointed.
This is the distinguishing mark
between God’s chosen people and the rest of mankind. His elect receive
Christ, and rejoice in him; but as for the ungodly, they willfully reject
the Savior, and so he becomes to them “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of
offense.” Christ is the great touchstone of humanity; by contact with him,
the precious are discovered, and the vile are discerned,
1
Peter 2:7, 8. But unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of
stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word,
being disobedient whereunto also they were appointed.
The ungodly reject him, and regard him as of no account; but God has made
him “the head of the corner.” And he has done more than that, he has made
him “a stone of stumbling, and a rook of offense” to them, “even to them
which stumble at the Word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were
appointed.” That is a terrible truth upon which I am not going to speak
just now, but I want you specially to note what an awful thing it is for men
to “stumble at the Word,” — to givest themselves upon Christ’s cross, — to
turn the heavenly medicine into poison,-to make Christ himself, who is to
others “the saviour of life unto life,” to be to them “the saviour of
death unto death.”
“Being disobedient.” The fault lies with themselves, they willfully
disobey the command to believe on Christ. “Whereunto also they were
appointed.” So the divine purpose is accomplished, although the guilt and
punishment of their disobedience rest upon themselves alone.
1 Peter 2:7, 8. But unto them which be
disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the
head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to
them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were
appointed.
When Peter wrote these verses, he must
have thought of his own name. He was called a stone or a rock; and once he
was to his Master “a rock of offense” when he stumbled at Christ’s word,
and began even to rebuke his Lord, but he was forgiven and saved, so now he
gives a warning to others lest they should still more grievously sin by
making Christ himself to be to them “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of
offense.”
1 Peter 2:8. And a stone of stumbling, and a
rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient:
whereunto also they were appointed.
These are terrible words, but they are
true. I cannot fully explain them. As Archbishop Leighton says, “It is
easier to get into a depth over this awful truth than it is to get out
again.” O God; grant that none of us may stumble at Christ! If we do,
Christ will not move because we kick at him, or fall over him.
1 Peter 2:9. That ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;
These are wonderful epithets that are
here heaped upon believers. May we have the grace to be able to appropriate
them, and to expound them in our lives!
1 Peter 2:9. That ye should shew forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light:
See where you once were, and see also
to what you have been called by God’s grace: “out of darkness into light.”
That is not all: into His light. Even that is not all: “into his marvellous
light.” The light of the gospel is full of wonders. As common light is made
up of many colors, so the light of God’s grace is made up of many marvellous
colors, — the colors of all the attributes of God.
1
Peter 2:9. But ye are a chosen generation,-
There is the contrast between the disobedient and all true believer. “Ye”
have the chosen Savior to be the chief corner-stone, upon whom “ye” who
are living stones are to be built up into “a spiritual house,” which is to
be the abiding place of the Most High God.
1
Peter 2:9. A royal priesthood,-
“Ye” are to be like Melchisedec, in whom the two offices of priest and
king were combined in one person. More then that, “ye” are to be like your
Lord, in respect to his royal priesthood. That he should have “loved us,
and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father,” seems to be an honor which is far too high for
us. It appears to bring us almost too near our Lord, yet it is not So, for
Peter wrote, under divine inspiration, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood,” —
1 Peter 2:9. An holy nation, a
peculiar people, that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath
called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
God’s grace has been bestowed upon you in order that you may show forth his
praises, or, as the marginal reading puts it, his “virtues.” Note what the
Lord has done for you he has called you “out of darkness” into light, into
his light, “into this marvelous light.” There are three thoughts there that
are beautifully blended into one. What marvelous light that is into which
God calls us! Try to measure it by the darkness in which you were; try to
measure it by the deeper darkness into which you were going; try to measure
it by the eternal darkness which would have fallen upon you if you had died
in the dark. God has graciously brought you into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9. But ye are a chosen generation,-
Hear this, ye believers, drink in this
precious truth. See God’s election, making you to be a people born of the
Holy Ghost: “a chosen generation,”-
1 Peter 2:9. A royal priesthood,-
This is a wonderful combination, kings
and priests at the same time; all honors meet on you through divine grace:
“a royal priesthood,”-
1 Peter 2:9. An holy nation, a peculiar
people;-
You have national privileges. God
reckons you not as a mob or a herd of men, but as a nation, and a nation
with this peculiar hall-mark upon you, that you are “a holy nation.” This
is the true token of your nationality that you are “holiness unto the
Lord,” “a peculiar people” belonging to God alone, marked off from the
rest of mankind as peculiarly his. You are not, and you are not to be as
other men are, you are “a peculiar people.” Your road is not the broad one
where the many go, it is the narrow one which the few find, your happiness
is not worldly pleasure, but pleasures at the right hand of God which are
for evermore, You are “a peculiar people”;-
1 Peter 2:9. That ye should shew forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light:-
You are to be advertisers of the
praises or virtues of Christ, not only to know them, and to be glad to know
them, but to make them known to others. Beloved, how far are you doing this?
I put the question personally to each one of you, for you were chosen by God
on purpose that you “should shew forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light”.
1 Peter 2:9. But ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew
forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light:
Oh, the dignity which Christ has put
upon the meanest believer! What a high office, and, consequently, what a
solemn responsibility is ours!
1 Peter 2:9, 10. But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priest flood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye
should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light: which in time past were not a people,
Who were you, and what were your
ancestors when the apostle wrote these words Our forefathers were, in
Peter’s day, uncivilized and barbarous tribes at the utmost end of Rome’s
dominions. We “were not a people,”-
1 Peter 2:10. Which in time past were not a
people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, b ’t
now have obtained mercy.
Look back to what you were before your
conversion. Whenever you are tempted to be proud of your present standing,
remember the horrible it and the miry clay out of which sovereign grace
alone has plucked you. When you are on the throne, recollect the dungeon
from which the grace of God uplifted you. When you are in full possession of
your spiritual faculties, and are rejoicing in the Lord, do not forget the
time when you lay sick, even unto death, until the Great Physician passed
that way, and healed you.
1 Peter 2:10. Which in time past were not a
people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now
have obtained mercy.
What a great change conversion is! And
how great a change conversion Works! HOW wonderful is the effect of
regeneration! We had not obtained mercy, but now we have obtained mercy; we
were not a people, but now we are the people of God.
1 Peter 2:10. Which in time past
were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
How the apostle delights to set forth these contrasts between the past and
the present of the Lord’s chosen people! By remembering what we were, we are
made to appreciate and enjoy more what we now are. We may well praise him
who has wrought this wondrous change in us. We were not his people, we were
sinners of the Gentiles, not the chosen Hebrew race. In times past, we were
not worthy to be called a people, but we are now the people of God. We had
not obtained mercy, we had not even asked for it; some of us were so blinded
by our self-righteousness that we did not know what we needed God’s mercy,
or did not want it; but now we have obtained mercy.
1 Peter 2:10. Which in time past were not a
people, but are now the people of God:-
In time long past, who ever heard of the Britons, or of the Anglo-Saxons?
We were not a people, but we “are now
the people of God”:-
1 Peter 2:10. Which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy.
We may well leap for joy, we who once
had not obtained mercy. We sinned against the Lord, but he was
long-suffering, and now we have obtained mercy.
1 Peter 2:10, 11. But are now the people of
God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Dearly beloved, I beseech you us
strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the
soul;- If you are priests,-as you are if you are believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ,-take care that you are clean before God. Let no impurity stain your
body, for sin committed by the body grievously befouls the spirit, and
defiles the heart: “Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the
soul;”-
1 Peter 2:11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you —
Peter puts his hands together, and
pleads with intense earnestness.
1 Peter 2:11. As strangers and pilgrims,
abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
Those fleshly lusts belong to this
present evil world, but you do not belong to it; you are “strangers and
pilgrims” here, therefore feel an absolute alienation towards such things,
an utter abhorrence of them. Do not even think of them, much less practice
them. “Abstain from fleshly lusts;” for, while they injure the body, that
is not the worst thing that they do, for they “war against the soul.”
1 Peter 2:11. Dearly beloved, I
beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war
against the soul;-
Fleshly lusts always hurt the soul. They do serious injury to the body, for
they are contrary to the laws of health; but the main point for you to
consider is that they “war against the soul.” No men or women can ever
commit an act of uncleanness of the body without grievously injuring the
soul. It leaves a weakness, a defilement, a wound, a scar upon the soul; so
may God graciously kept us from it altogether!
1 Peter 2:11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as
strangers and pilgrims,-
For you belong not to the corruptible
world, you are of an incorruptible race: “I beseech you as strangers and
pilgrim,”-
1 Peter 2:11, 12. Abstain from
fleshly lusts, which war against the soul: having your conversation honest
among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers,-
Which they are sure to do. The better
you are, the more will they censure you. This is the only homage that evil
can pay to good, to fall foul of it, and misrepresent it: “ that whereas
they speak against you as evildoers,”-
1 Peter 2:11-17. Dearly beloved, I beseech you
as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the
soul; having your conversation hone among the Gentiles: that, whereas they
speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they
shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to
every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as
supreme or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is
the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of
foolish men; as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of
maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men.
Honor even the poorest of men.
Remember that they are men. Even though they are sunken in vice or crime,
honor the manhood that is in them, however much you may detest their crimes.
“Honor all men.”
1 Peter 2:12. Having your conversation honest
among the Gentiles: that, whereas they ask against you as evildoers,-
As they are sure to do, for none are
so certain to be slandered as the pure; and the more clean you are in God’s
sight, the more will you excite the animosity of ungodly men, and they will
show it by slandering you: “that, whereas they speak against you as
evildoers,”-
1 Peter 2:12. Having your
conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you
as evildoers,-
This they are sure to do, and the more holy your life is, the more they will
probably speak against you. Even if you could live like an angel, some would
call you a devil, but you are not to be judged by men’s judgment, thank God
for that, and so live, “that, whereas they speak against you as
evildoers,” —
1 Peter 2:12, 13. Having your conversation
honest among the Gentiles: that, when they speak against you as evildoers,
they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day
of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s
sake:
You are not to be disturbers of the
peace; you Christian people are to cultivate the spirit of conciliation
wherever you dwell, submitting yourselves, “for the Lord’s sake,” even to
come things which you do not like.
1 Peter 2:12, 13. They may by
your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of
visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinances of man for the Lord’s
sake:” —
We are to obey kings, and governors, and magistrates, even when they may not
be all that we wish them to be: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of
man for the Lord’s sake:” —
1 Peter 2:12-14. They may by your good works,
which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit
yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to
the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him
for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
True Christians give no trouble in the
State they are not law-breakers, but they strive to do that which is honest
and upright. Where the laws are not righteous, they may cause trouble to bad
law-givers and lawmakers; but when rulers ordain that which is just and
righteous, they find that Christians are their best subjects.
1 Peter 2:13. Whether it be to the king, as
supreme;
In Peter’s day, the king was a poor
creature, and something worse than that. Indeed, I might say of the bulk of
the Emperors of Rome, who were the chief “kings” of that day, that they
were monsters of iniquity; yet the office was to be respected even when the
man who occupied it could not be much more should it be respected when the
occupant is what a true “king” should be.
1 Peter 2:13-15. Whether it be to
the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him
for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the
ignorance of foolish men:
Ignorance, you see, is a noisy thing. An empty drum makes a loud noise when
it is beaten; and empty men, like empty vessels, often make the most sound.
How then are we to silence this noisy ignorance? By argument? No, for it is
not amenable to argument. Ignorance is to be silenced “by well doing.”
Holy living is the best reply to infidel talking.
1 Peter 2:14-16. Or unto governors, as unto
them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the
praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing
ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: all free, —
Free in yourselves, free in your
conscience, free in your mind and heart.
1 Peter 2:15, 16. For so is the will of God,
that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as
free,-
What a grand word that is, “as
free”! Byron wrote, “He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, And all
are slaves besides.”
But we may alter that, and say, “He is the true freeman whom his Lord makes
free.” “As free,-
1 Peter 2:16. And not using your liberty for a
cloke of maliciousness, but as the Servants of God.
You possess a freedom which others
claim, but do not know. You feel that you are no man’s slave, yet you do not
use your liberty for evil, or to the injury of others.
1 Peter 2:16. As free,-
For there are no others under heaven so free as God’s servants are: “As
free,” —
1 Peter 2:16. And not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the
servants of God.
Not talking about liberty in order to stab at order; not prating about
liberty with the design of enriching yourself by robbing someone else. That
is not God’s will, but “using your liberty... . as the servants of God”
should use it.
1 Peter 2:16, 17. And not using your liberty
for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men.
Love the brotherhood: Fear God. honor the king.
A great deal of stress is sometimes
laid upon that last precept, and I would lay just as much emphasis upon it
as the Scripture does; but recollect the earlier command also: “Honor all
men.”
“A man’s a man for a that.”
Whatever his condition may he, honor the manhood that is in him. Do not
despise him because he is poor, or because his coat is not so fashionably
cut as yours is; for, perhaps, he may be a better man than you are: “Honor
all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
1 Peter 2:17. Honour all men.
Whoever they may be, be courteous, respectful, kind to all men, because they
are men. Whatever their circumstances, they are men, therefore “honor all
men.”
1 Peter 2:17-19. Honour all men. Love the
brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be subject to your masters
with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward. For
this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief,
suffering wrongfully.
There is no credit in suffering
rightfully; the credit is in patiently enduring suffering, which you do not
deserve.
1 Peter 2:17-19. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be
subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but
also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward
God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
Not always “sticking up for his rights,” as an ungodly man says, but
feeling that the greatest right in the world is the right to do without your
rights. To suffer wrongfully, will often glorify God much batter than to
stand up for what you have a right to be or to have.
1 Peter 2:17-20. Love the brotherhood. Fear
God. Honor the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not
only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is
thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering
wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults,
ye shall take it patiently but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye
take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
This is a correction of what we often
hear a slandered person say. “So. and-so has been spreading an evil report
against me, and I am in bad odour. I should not have minded it if it had
been true, but I cannot bear the slander as it is false.” My dear friend,
you ought not to mind it if it is not true; but “when ye do well, and
suffer for it,” there is then an acceptableness with God if ye take it
patiently.
1 Peter 2:18–20. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not
only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is
thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering
wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults,
ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye
take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
Peter is very practical in his Epistles. In the early days of the faith,
Christians occupied a far more difficult and dangerous position than they do
today. They were few in number, and greatly despised. All manner of crimes
were falsely alleged against them; they were accused of things too vile for
me to mention. The apostle, in writing to these Christians, begs them so to
behave that they should commend the gospel of Christ. Very many of them were
servants or slaves; so the apostle says to these lowly followers of Christ,
“Here are your duties”: —
A sense of injustice stings a man; he does not like to lose his rights, or
to be buffeted when he has done no ill; but the Spirit of Christ teaches us
to “endure grief, suffering wrongfully,” — to bear still, and still to
bear. We are to be like the anvil; let others strike us if they will, but we
shall wear out the hammers if we only know how to stand still and bear all
that is put upon us.
1 Peter 2:20. For what glory is
it, if, when ye are buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently?
But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is
acceptable with God.
It may be hard to bear, but in that very hardness lies much of the fragrance
of it towards God. As spices must be bruised, so must you be pressed and
crushed to bring out your sweetness. If you want to be where there is
nothing to suffer, and no wrong to be endured, you are in the wrong world
for that as yet; that will be in the world to come.
1 Peter 2:20-21. For what glory is it, if,
when ye are buffeted for your faults, we take it patiently? but if, when ye
do well, and suffer for it, we take it patiently, this is acceptable with
God. For even hereunto were ye called:
It is part of a true Christian’s
calling to bear what is put upon him wrongfully.
Whenever you think of the glory of
your risen Lord, remember what your redemption cost him, and quit all dead
works, lay aside the grave-clothes of care and anxiety, and live in newness
of life as those who have been redeemed by the risen Savior.
1 Peter 2:21. For even hereunto
were ye called-
Called to do right, and to suffer for it! Ah me, what a call is that!
1 Peter 2:21-23. For even hereunto were ye
called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye
should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his
mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again: when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously who
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead
to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd
and Bishop of your souls,
The Lord make this true of all of us, for Christ’s sake! Amen.
1 Peter 2:21-23. Because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no
sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who when he was reviled, reviled
not again; when he suffered, he threatened not: but committed himself to him
that judgeth righteously:
This leads Peter to make the following
glorious declaration concerning the stoning sacrifice of Christ.
1 Peter 2:21–23. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for
us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not
again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him
that judgeth righteously:
There was no reason why he should be made to suffer, for he had done no
wrong. He was buffeted for no fault of his own, yet how patiently he endured
it all! He did not even open his mouth to murmur or complain; but he handed
the whole matter over to the Supreme Court of Appeal: “to him that judgeth
righteously.” It will be wise for us also to feel that we can afford to
wait, knowing that our Avenger liveth, and that, in his own good time, he
will rectify all wrongs, and justify his people against all their accusers.
It is sweet, for the dear love of Jesus, to put up with a thousand things
which, otherwise, we should resent. “But,” says one, “if you tread on a
worm, it will turn.” Perhaps it will, but a Christian is not a worm; he is
a being of a nobler order than that, and he does not go for his example to
reptiles; he looks up to Christ, and follows his steps.
1 Peter 2:24. Who his own self bare our sins
in his own body on the tree, —
There was a transference of sin from
sinners to Christ. This is no fiction. He, “his own self,” bore that sin
“in his own body on the tree,” —
1 Peter 2:24. That we, being dead to sins, —
Because he died for us, and we died in
him, —
1 Peter 2:24. Should live unto righteousness:
by whose stripes ye were healed.
By his sufferings, you were cured of
sin. His death not only removed from you the penalty of sin; but what is far
better, it also removed from you the dread disease itself.
1 Peter 2:24, 25. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that
we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye
were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto
the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Wherefore, since you have been brought back by the rich grace of God,
continue to bear and forbear, that you may be the means of bringing others
back. That is Peter’s counsel to servants, or slaves, as most of them were.
1 Peter 2:25. For ye were as sheep going
astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
God grant that this may be true
concerning every one of us, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.
1 Peter 3
Exposition by C H Spurgeon
1 Peter 3:1, 2. Likewise, ye wives be in subjection to your own
husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be
won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste
conversation coupled with fear.
Could any men be won to Christ without the Word? Yes, it was even so in the
apostle’s day. When they refused to attend the little Christian meetings
that were being held, and so could not hear what was there said, yet, at
home, they saw the change that the gospel of Christ had wrought in their
wives, and they said, “She is quite different from what she used to be.
Certainly, she is a far better wife than any heathen woman is; there must be
something in the religion which can make such a change as that.” In this
way, without the Word, many of them were won to Christ by the godly
conversation of their wives.
1 Peter 3:3, 4. Whose adorning
let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of
gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the
heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
There is no ornament like that. No taste can ever conceive anything so
lovely as a holy character. No expensive materials, and no ingenious
fashioning of them, can ever produce such true beauty as “a meek and quiet
spirit.” You must have known some godly matrons, venerable Christian women,
whose gentle piety has blessed the whole household of which they formed a
part. They attained supreme authority over all simply by yielding; they
gained a queenly position in the house by gentleness and quietness. Nobody
dared to offend them; — not because they would have been in a passion, but
because they were themselves so inoffensive, so kind, so gentle.
1 Peter 3:5-7. For after this
manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned
themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: even as Sara,
obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do
well, and are not afraid with any amazement. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell
with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the
weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your
prayers be not hindered.
It has been one of the most beautiful results of the spread of the Christian
religion that it has uplifted womanhood; so that now, instead of women
being, as they were, and still are where the gospel is not received, the
slaves of their husbands, Christianity has taught that honor should be given
to the wife. If there are any husbands who do not so, they err from the
gospel way.
1 Peter 3:8. Finally, be ye all
of one mind, —
Be unanimous; do not hold church-meetings to talk about nothing, and so
quarrel for the want of something to do. Be united with the resolve that you
will glorify God, and that there shall be no dissension, no division among
you: “Be ye all of one mind,” —
1 Peter 3:8. Having compassion
one of another, —
Have true fellow-feeling towards each other.
1 Peter 3:8. Love as brethren, be
pitiful, be courteous:
The Christian should be the highest type of gentleman, in every respect the
most gentle man, kind, self-forgetful, seeking the comfort and well-being of
others to the utmost of his power.
1 Peter 3:9. Not rendering evil
for evil, —
That, is beastlike; it is certainly not the rule for a Christian. Good for
evil is Godlike; and ye, who are the children of God, should seek to act as
he does: “not rendering evil for evil,” — .
1 Peter 3:9. Or railing for
railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called,
that ye should inherit a blessing.
Every man should give away according to what he has. He who gives curses
probably gives them because he has so much cursing in him. You can always
tell what a man is like by noticing what comes from him. If he curses, it is
because curses abound in him. But you are to give blessing to others because
you have inherited so much blessing from Christ; your whole tone, temper,
spirit, language, action should be the means of blessing to others.
1 Peter 3:10. For he that will
love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his
lips that they speak no guile:
Not only no lies, but no guile, no deceit, no shuffling. Say to a man’s face
all that you say behind his back. You will soon be in trouble if you have
two tales to tell, one in his presence, and the other in his absence; but if
you are free from “policy” — from “knowing how to play your cards,” as
the world says, then shall it be seen that you have one of the attributes of
a true Christian. If you refrain your lips, that they speak no guile, people
will know where to find you, and they will want to find you, for such men
are always in demand.
1 Peter 3:11, 12, Let him
eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of
the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers:
but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
He “sets his face against them,” as we say that we set our face against
certain company which we do not approve. But “the eyes of the Lord are over
the righteous,” — that is, those who seek to do good to others, for
Christ’s sake, are under the special protection of God; and they have the
high privilege of being permitted to pray with the certainty that “his ears
are open unto their prayers.”
1 Peter 3:13–15. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which
is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be
not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God
in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
Have your doctrinal views, and all your knowledge of Christ, packed away in
a handy form, so that, when people want to know what you believe, you can
tell them. If they wish to know why you believe that you are saved, have
your answer all ready in a few plain, simple sentences; and in the gentlest
and most modest spirit make your confession of faith to the praise and glory
of God. Who knows but what such good seed will bring forth an abundant
harvest?
1 Peter 3:16, 17. Having a good
conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may
be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is
better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer, for well doing, than for
evil doing.
Who can doubt the truth of that clear declaration?
1 Peter 4
Exposition by C H Spurgeon
1 Peter 4:1. Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh,
arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the
flesh hath ceased from sin: —
Brethren, we have a Savior who suffered for us. As the Head was, such must
the members expect to be. Let us, then, be resolutely determined that,
suffer as we may, we will never turn aside from our Lord; for, inasmuch as
we suffered in him, yea, and died in him, we ought to reckon that we are
henceforth dead to sin, and that we have ceased from it, and can no longer
be drawn into it. “He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from
sin:” —
1 Peter 4:2. That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the
lusts of men, but to the will of God.
The doctrine of substitution is the strongest possible argument for
holiness. You lived in sin once, but Christ died for your sin, so you must
reckon that, in him, you died to sin, seeing that he died in your stead. And
the argument is that, henceforth, your life is to be a life in him, a life
of holiness, to the praise and glory of God.
1 Peter 4:3. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will
of the Gentiles, —
Suffice? O brethren, let it do much more than that! Let it make us cry,
“Would God that we had never wrought the will of the Gentiles at all!”
Some young people foolishly say that they must have a little space in which
they can “see life.” Ah, those of you who have been converted in after
years regret that ever you saw what men call “life”, which is but the
alias for corruption and death! “For the time part of our life may suffice
us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles,” —
1 Peter 4:3, 4. When we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excesses of wine, revellings banquetings, and abominable idolatries. Wherein they think it
strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil
of you:
What a strange world this world is! It speaks evil of men because they will
not do evil. Yet it has ever been so; the men, “of whom the world was not
worthy,” have been the very people of whom worldliness have said, “Away
with such fellows from the earth! It is not fit that they should live.” The
world’s verdict concerning Christians is of little value.
1 Peter 4:5, 6. Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and
the dead. For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are
dead, that they might be judged according to men is the flesh, but live
according to God in the spirit.
This is a very difficult passage to expound, but I suppose the meaning is
that the gospel was preached to those departed saints who had been called to
die for Christ’s sake, and that it was preached to them for this very
reason, that, while they were judged by wicked men, and were by them
condemned to die, they still live a far more glorious life than they lived
here, because they were thus enabled, by their martyr death, to consummate
their consecration to God.
1 Peter 4:7, 8. But the end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and
watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among
yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
It covers them sometimes by not seeing them; for, where there is much love,
we are blind to many faults which, otherwise, we might see; we do not
exercise the sharpness of criticism which malice would be sure to exercise.
Besides that, when love applies herself to prayer, and when, in addition to
prayer, she kindly gives admonition to a beloved friend, it often happens
that true Christian love does really prevent a multitude of sins. The
apostle does not mean that, by loving another person, I shall cover my own
sin; nor does he mean that the exercise of charity, in the common
acceptation of that word, can cover my sin. But if I have much love to
others, I may be the instrument, in the hand of God, for covering many of
their sins in one or other of the senses I have mentioned.
1 Peter 4:9, 10. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man
hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good
stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Whatever “the gift” is, whether it be money, or talent, or grace, “even
so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace
of God.” God gives much to you that you may give it to others; it is only
meant to run through you as through a pipe. You are a steward and if a
steward should receive his lord’s goods, and keep them for himself he would
be an unfaithful steward. Child of God, see to it that you faithfully
discharge your responsibility as one of the “good stewards of the manifold
grace of God.”
1 Peter 4:11-13. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man
minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all
things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery
trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when
his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
If you do not share in Christ’s humiliation, how can you expect to share in
his exaltation? But if worldlings begin to rebuke and reproach you, take it
for granted that they can discern something of Christ in you. Dogs do not
usually bark at those who live in the same village with them; it is only at
strangers that they bark. And when ribald tongues are lifted up against you,
you have reason to hope that you are a stranger and a foreigner to the
citizens of this world, for they love their own, as our Savior reminded his
disciples, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but
because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you”
