Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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;
1. Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered in the flesh ] The thoughts of the Apostle go back, somewhat after the manner of St Paul after a dogmatic digression, to the point from which he had started. Christ had suffered in the flesh. If those who had been baptized in His name were called so to suffer, they, looking to the glory that had followed on His sufferings, were to follow His example. They were, it might be, engaged in a tremendous conflict, but they needed no other armour than “the mind of Christ,” the temper of patient submission and unwavering trust in the wisdom and love of the Father.
for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin ] If this had been the close of the sentence we might have looked on the “suffering” of which the Apostle speaks, as including death, as it had included it in the case of Christ. So taken, the words might seem to express the familiar thought that “Death only can from sin release,” as in the Rabbinic maxim “He that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom 6:7), that men were to welcome the sufferings that brought death near to them, as working out their complete emancipation. The words that follow, however, make this interpretation impossible, and the “ceasing from sin” must therefore be understood of that “deadness to sin,” “sin no longer having dominion over us,” of which St Paul speaks in Rom 6:7-11. That Apostle, it may be noted, though he quotes the Rabbinic proverb, transfers its application from literal to spiritual death, and St Peter, following a like train of thought, affirms as a general law of the spiritual life that the very act of suffering in the mind of Christ and for Him so strengthens the powers of will and faith that the sufferer is ipso facto delivered from the life in which sin is dominant. It is hard to think of a martyr in the hour of death, or of a confessor patiently bearing his cross, as malignant or fraudulent or impure.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh – Since he as a man has died for us. See the notes at 1Pe 3:18. The design was to set the suffering Redeemer before them as an example in their trials.
Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind – That is, evidently, the same mind that he evinced – a readiness to suffer in the cause of religion, a readiness to die as he had done. This readiness to suffer and die, the apostle speaks of as armour, and having this is represented as being armed. Armour is put on for offensive or defensive purposes in war; and the idea of the apostle here is, that that state of mind when we are ready to meet with persecution and trial, and when we are ready to die, will answer the purpose of armour in engaging in the conflicts and strifes which pertain to us as Christians, and especially in meeting with persecutions and trials. We are to put on the same fortitude which the Lord Jesus had, and this will be the best defense against our foes, and the best security of victory.
For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin – Compare the notes at Rom 6:7. To suffer in the flesh is to die. The expression here has a proverbial aspect, and seems to have meant something like this: when a man is dead, he will sin no more; referring of course to the present life. So if a Christian becomes dead in a moral sense – dead to this world, dead by being crucified with Christ (see the notes at Gal 2:20) – he may be expected to cease from sin. The reasoning is based on the idea that there is such a union between Christ and the believer that his death on the cross secured the death of the believer to the world. Compare 2Ti 2:11; Col 2:20; Col 3:3.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Pe 4:1-6
Christ suffered in the flesh.
Ecce Homo
The Redeemer of the world is in one sense infinitely above us; but in another sense He is actually beside us. His sympathy is as true as His sovereignty.
I. Try to understand what the sufferings of Jesus were. He suffered in the flesh. No one can read the Gospels without seeing indications of those sufferings.
1. There can be no doubt that Jesus was exempted from many of the physical ills from which we suffer. We can only think of Him as healthy, not only because of His birth, but because the exacting nature of His self-forgetful work required a perfect physique. Besides this, we must remember that many of our physical sufferings we bring on ourselves. Idleness, self-indulgence, artificial modes of life, irregularities, are the causes of many of the ills which flesh is heir to; but the life of Jesus was exquisite in its simplicity and unstained by a single vicious propensity. And this reminds us further that He could not have suffered, as we do, from a sense of personal sin, from the remorse which follows after our utterance of an unkind word, or the indulgence of an evil propensity, or from the tumult of passion which rises up within a sinful heart. Yet He was a sufferer. He was a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses. But besides these His whole life was a martyrdom. His sensibility, not only to physical pain, but to mental and moral agony, must have been exquisite.
2. Think, too, of His utter loneliness. His was the solitude of a holy soul surrounded by sinners; of a heavenly spirit in contact with things earthly and sensual; of a mind whose higher thoughts not a single being on earth could appreciate; whose truest objects in living and dying as He did none could comprehend.
3. That expression, in the flesh, reminds us of His uncongenial surroundings. He lived and died among a despised people, and was regarded as an outcast even by some of them! Often must He have felt as the Jews did when, exiled from home and fatherland, they hanged their harps upon the willows, and wept as they remembered Zion, saying, How can we sing the Lords song in a strange land?
II. How these sufferings were endured by Him.
1. It is evident that He accepted them as Gods appointment for Him here. The cup which My Father hath given Me shall I not drink it? indicates His attitude to trouble right through. If a days ministry brought Him no result, He did not repine; if His own nation rejected Him, He meekly accepted the result, though with unutterable sorrow over the issues of it to them; if the Cross was to be faced, He went forth willingly to Calvary, there to die-the just for the unjust-to bring us unto God.
2. Notice also that our Lord never allowed Himself to be absorbed in His own sorrows. He was always ready to enter into other peoples joys and griefs, whatever His own sorrows might be. He is not so absorbed in the joys of heaven that He will not listen to the faltering cry of the lowliest penitent. I have known some sufferers who have been armed with the same mind. Their unselfishness has been sublime. Their couch of pain has proved the centre of joy and peace to those who circle round them.
III. But how can we do this? (A. Rowland, LL. B.)
Christs sufferings
I. Christ suffered in human nature. His sufferings in the flesh were-
1. Great, corporeal, social, mediatorial.
2. Ignominious. Poverty, obloquy, persecution, crucifixion.
II. Christ suffered for men.
III. Christ suffered with a spirit which men should cultivate.
1. Profoundly religious.
2. Self denyingly philanthropic.
IV. The possession of this spirit is the power to deliver us from moral evil. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Sin pierced
Use sin, as Christ was used when He was made sin for us; lift it up, and make it naked by confession to God. And then pierce-
1. The hands of it, in respect of operation, that it may work no more.
2. The feet of it, in respect of progression, that it go no further.
3. The heart, in respect of affection, that it may be loved no longer. (J. Trapp.)
Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.–
Conformity with Christ
I. The high engagement to this conformity. He suffered for us in the flesh. We are the more obliged to make His suffering our example, because it was to us more than an example; it was our ransom. This makes the conformity reasonable in a double respect. It is due that we follow Him, who led us as the Captain of our salvation; that we follow Him in suffering and in doing, seeing both were for us. What can be too bitter to endure, or too sweet to forsake, to follow Him? Were this duly considered, should we cleave to our lusts or to our ease? Should we not be willing to go through fire and water, yea, through death itself, yea, were it possible, through many deaths, to follow Him? Consider, as this conformity is due, so it is made easy by His suffering for us. Our chains which bound us over to eternal death being knocked off, shall we not walk, shall we not run, in His ways?
II. The nature of this conformity, to show the nearness of it, is expressed in the very same terms as in the pattern; it is not remote resemblance, but the same thing, even suffering in the flesh. But that we may understand rightly what suffering is here meant, it is plainly this, ceasing from sin. So that this suffering in the flesh is not simply the enduring of afflictions, which is a part of the Christians conformity to His Head, but it implies a more inward and spiritual suffering. It is the suffering and dying of our corruption, the taking away of the life of sin by the death of Christ: the death of His sinless flesh works in the believer the death of sinful flesh, that is, the corruption of His nature, which is so usually in Scripture called flesh. Ceased from sin. He is at rest from it, a godly death, as they who die in the Lord rest from their labours. Faith so looks on the death of Christ, that it takes the impression of it, sets it on the heart, kills it unto sin. Christ and the believer do not only become one in law, so that His death stands for theirs, but one in nature, so that His death for sin causes theirs to it (Rom 6:3).
III. The actual improvement of this conformity. Arm yourselves with the same mind, or thoughts of this mortification. Consider and apply the suffering of Christ in the flesh, to the end that you with Him suffering in the flesh, may cease from sin. Think that it ought to be thus, and seek that it may be thus with you. Arm yourselves. There is still fighting, and sin will be molesting you; though wounded to death, yet will it struggle for life, and seek to wound its enemy; it will assault the graces that are in you. You may take the Lords promise for victory in the end; that shall not fail; but do not promise yourself ease in the way, for that will not hold. If at sometimes you be undermost, give not all up for lost; he hath often won the day who hath been foiled and wounded in the fight. But likewise take not all for won, so as to have no more conflict, when sometimes you have the better in particular battles. Now the way to be armed is this, the same mind. How would my Lord Christ carry Himself in this case? And what was His business in all places and companies? Was it not to do the will and advance the glory of His Father? Thus ought it to be with the Christian, framing all his ways, and words, and very thoughts, upon that model, the mind of Christ, and studying in all things to walk even as He walked; studying it much, as the reason and rule of mortification, and drawing from it, as the real cause and spring of mortification. (Abp. Leighton.)
Cardinal truths
I. The cardinal truth of Christianity Christ hath suffered for us.
II. The Christians cardinal duty-Christ having suffered for us, arm yourselves with the same mind.
1. Arm yourselves with the same mind as to the method of conduct.
2. Arm yourselves with the same mind as to the purpose in view.
III. The Christians daily course of life-that we should no longer live, etc. (J. J. S. Bird.)
Christ the grand necessity of man
I. Christs mind is the weapon with which man is to fight his way on to moral perfection. His moral perfection is here taught. But to reach this what a battle man has to fight! By the mind of Christ we are to understand, of course, not His mere intellect, great as it was, nor His conscience, sublimely pure though it was; but the moral spirit that inspired and directed all His intellectual and moral powers. By His mind we mean, in one word, His moral character. Now this is the weapon by which alone man can win victories over evil, and obtain the crown of life, namely, conformity to the will of God. Doctrines will not do it, however Scriptural; religious rites will not do it, however studiously observed. Who is the man in our world the most successful in putting down wrong? Not the legislator, however just the laws he enacts; not the moralist, however cogent his arguments and powerful his rhetoric; but the man who has the mind of Christ as his armour.
II. Christs sufferings are the argument for the employment of this weapon. First, the sufferings of Christ were in the flesh. He was in the flesh, but not flesh. Secondly, Christ suffered in the flesh in order to establish human holiness. That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The rest of his time in the flesh.–
The rest of his time in the flesh
Who can tell how long that may be for any one of us? The sands run swiftly through lifes hour glass. The shadow hastens to go down upon the dial. The waves eat away so quickly the dwindling shoal of land which crumbles beneath us. The Christian finds nothing in such thoughts to make him sad. Every milestone marks the growing nearness of his home. The waves cannot be crossed too swiftly by the eager traveller. Before us lie the ages of eternity, filled with a blessedness of personal enjoyment and rapturous ministry which defy tongue to tell or mind to picture. But the blessed future must not divert our thoughts from the duties to be discharged during the rest of the time which we are to spend in the flesh. We must not be dreamers, but warriors. To arms! Arm yourselves with the same mind; and when we ask, What mind? we are told to arm ourselves with the mind that took Jesus to His death. In a venerable old church at Innsbruck, famous for containing the tomb of the great Emperor Maximilian, there is a magnificent bronze statue of Godfrey of Boulogne, the illustrious crusader. His head is covered with a helmet, and on the helmet rests a crown of thorns. Of course, there was a meaning in the mind of the artist other than that with which we now invest the strange conjunction. He doubtless designed to represent the sacred cause for which that helmet was donned. But we may discover an apt symbol of the teaching of our apostle, who unites in these verses the armour of the Christian soldier, and the recollection of Christs suffering in the flesh. This witness of the sufferings of Christ first takes us to the Cross; and after gazing reverently on that spectacle of love, we are brought to a point where two ways diverge. And the only way of discovering and maintaining the right path is to imbibe the spirit of that wondrous death; nay, to bind it around us as a talisman of victory. In hoc signo vinces. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The right use of the residue of our time
I. Negatively. Not to the lusts of men! This does not mean that we are to neglect our bodily interests. What are the lusts? Animal instincts grown to a dominant force.
II. Positively. To the will of God. This implies-
1. That God has a will.
2. That God has a will concerning men.
3. That Gods will is revealed.
What is the will of God concerning men? First, it is His will that we should believe in Christ (Joh 6:29; 1Jn 3:23). Secondly, it is His will that we shall be purified from sin. This is the will of God, even your sanctification (1Th 4:3). Thirdly, it is His will that we should cultivate a practical gratitude for all the blessings of life (1Th 5:18). Fourthly, it is His will that every man shall be saved (1Ti 2:4). (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The time in the flesh
I. Our time in the flesh is chequered.
II. Our time in the flesh is short.
III. Our time here is uncertain.
IV. Our time here is important. (Homilist.)
To the lusts of men.
Mens lusts opposed to Gods will
1. To live after the lusts of men and to the will of God are opposite each to other as light and darkness.
2. We cannot at one and the same time both walk after our lusts and live to Gods will. One lust loved, sufficient to condemn.
3. In the course of sanctification, we must begin at renouncing our own will, and the lusts of men. None sow a plant till weeds be pulled up; none put on new apparel till they have put off their rags.
4. It is not sufficient that we renounce our lusts and evil, except we yield obedience to the will of God.
5. It is not one action or two whereby a man is discovered what he is, but his constant course of walking or living. (John Rogers.)
The flesh rightly used
The flesh itself, under the calm subduing influence of your purer spirit, will become a dignified servant in waiting on its superior. Good gardeners know a better way of conquering the wild thorn than by uprooting and destroying it. They set it in their garden. They graft it on some queenly rose. Then the wild thorn expends its energy not upon itself, but upon that which is above itself; and as a reward is crowned with a glory which itself could not possibly produce. (G. Calthrop.)
To the will of God.-
Will of God
1. It is a good will.
2. A holy will.
3. A just will.
4. An impartial will.
5. A practicable will.
6. A supreme will.
7. An obligatory will. (John Bate.)
Living to Gods will
I. This is the lesson of mans past evil life.
1. Sadness.
(1) Enough of sin, because of its-
(2) Degradation to self.
(3) Injuriousness to others.
(4) Rebellion against God.
2. Hope.
(1) Forgiveness for time past.
(2) Deliverance from time past.
II. Notwithstanding bad mens wonder at good mens conduct, what Peter said two thousand years ago is true today. The thoroughly corrupt man finds it impossible to understand the Christly man.
1. He thinks his conduct strange, and so, perhaps, ignores him altogether.
2. Or he thinks his conduct strange, and is aggravated by it.
3. Or he thinks his conduct strange, and it leads him to inquire. This is the good effect.
III. Both Christs judgment and Christs Gospel are for all. (U. R. Thomas.)
Gods win
The perfection of a mans nature is when his will fits on to Gods like one of Euclids triangles superimposed upon another, and line for line coincides. When his will allows a free passage to the will of God, without resistance, as light travels through transparent glass; when his will responds to the touch of Gods finger upon the keys, like the telegraphic needle to the operators hand; then man has attained all that God and religion can do for him, all that his nature is capable of.
The will of God
What a glorious contrast to the will of the flesh is the will of God! This was the food of Jesus. To do this He came to earth. It was the fire cloud that lit His pathway, the yoke in carrying which He found rest, the Urim and Thummim, which dimmed or shone with heavenly guidance. There is no course more safe or blessed than to live in the will of God. Gods will is good will. Where the will of God lies across the wilderness pathway, there flowers bloom, and waters gush from rocks of flint. Sometimes the flesh rebels against it, because it means crucifixion and self-denial, but under the rugged shell the sweetest kernel nestles, and none know the ecstasy of living save those who refuse the broad, easy road of the lusts of men, to climb the steep, upward path of doing the will of God from the heart. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER IV.
We should suffer patiently, after the example of Christ, 1.
And no longer live according to our former custom, but disregard
the scoffs of those who are incensed against us because we have
forsaken their evil ways, who are shortly to give account to
God for their conduct, 2-5.
How the Gospel was preached to Jews and Gentiles, 6.
As the end of all things was at hand, they should be sober,
watchful, charitable, benevolent, good stewards of the bounty
of Providence; and, when called to instruct others, speak as
the oracles of God, 7-11.
Of the persecutions and trials which were coming upon them, and
how they were to suffer so as not to disgrace their Christian
character, 12-16.
Judgment was about to begin at the house of God, and even the
righteous would escape with difficulty from the calamities
coming upon the Jews; but they must continue in well-doing, and
thus commit the keeping of their souls to their faithful
Creator, 17-19.
NOTES ON CHAP. IV.
Verse 1. As Christ hath suffered] He is your proper pattern; have the same disposition he had; the same forgiving spirit, with meekness, gentleness, and complete self-possession.
He that hath suffered in the flesh, hath ceased from sin] This is a general maxim, if understood literally: The man who suffers generally reflects on his ways, is humbled, fears approaching death, loathes himself because of his past iniquities, and ceases from them; for, in a state of suffering, the mind loses its relish for the sins of the flesh, because they are embittered to him through the apprehension which he has of death and judgment; and, on his application to God’s mercy, he is delivered from his sin.
Some suppose the words are to be understood thus: “Those who have firmly resolved, if called to it, to suffer death rather than apostatize from Christianity, have consequently ceased from, or are delivered from, the sin of saving their lives at the expense of their faith.” Others think that it is a parallel passage to Ro 6:7, and interpret it thus: “He that hath mortified the flesh, hath ceased from sin.” Dr. Bentley applies the whole to our redemption by Christ: He that hath suffered in the flesh hath died for our sins. But this seems a very constrained sense.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The apostle having in the former chapter exhorted believers to patient bearing of afflictions by the example of Christ, 1Pe 4:18, proceeds in this to persuade them to improve the crosses they bore outwardly to inward mortification. Christs death is proposed to us in Scripture as an exemplar both of external mortification in bearing reproaches, persecutions, &c., (this the apostle prosecutes in the former chapter), and of internal, in the destroying the body of sin; this he exhorts to in this chapter, and indeed draws his argument from Christs death, not only as the exemplary, but efficient and meritorious, cause of our mortification, and which hath a real influence upon it, in that Christ by his death did not only merit the pardon of sin, but the giving the Spirit, whereby corruption might be destroyed, and our natures renewed.
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us; viz. not only as an exemplar of patience and submission to the will of God, but for the taking away of sin, both in the guilt and power of it, and that he might be the procurer as well as pattern of our mortification.
In the flesh; in his human nature, as 1Pe 3:18.
Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; strengthen and fortify yourselves against all temptations, and unto the mortification of your lusts, with the consideration of these ends, and the mighty efficacy of Christs death, he suffering in his flesh, i.e. in his human nature, that you might suffer in your flesh, i.e. in your sinful, corrupt nature; or, (which comes to the same), with the same mind which Christ had, who, in his death, aimed not only at the pardon of your sin, but the destruction of it, and the renovation of your natures: or, arm yourselves with the same mind, viz. a purpose of suffering in the flesh, i.e. of dying spiritually with Christ in the mortification of your flesh, Rom 6:6,7; as Christ died, and suffered in the flesh, so reckon that you, by the virtue of his death, must die to sin. and crucify your flesh, with its affections and lusts, Gal 5:24; or else, what the same mind is, he declares in the following clause.
For; or rather, that, the Greek word here seems rather to be explicative than causal.
He that hath suffered in the flesh; i.e. the old man, his corrupt flesh, (flesh being taken here in a different sense from what it was in the former part of the verse), he that is spiritually dead with Christ, whose old man is crucified with him.
Hath ceased from sin; from sinning willingly and delightfully, and yielding himself up to the power of sin; compare Rom 6:1-23, which explains this: what Peter here calls suffering in the flesh, Paul there calls a being dead to sin, Rom 6:2,11; and what Peter calls a ceasing from sin, Paul calls a living no longer in sin, Rom 6:2, and a being freed from it, Rom 6:7. And this may be the mind, or thought, with which they were to be armed, that they being dead with Christ to sin, should not live any longer in it; having their flesh crucified, should not indulge its affections and lusts.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. for ussupported by someoldest manuscripts and versions, omitted by others.
in the fleshin Hismortal body of humiliation.
arm (Eph 6:11;Eph 6:13).
the same mindofsuffering with patient willingness what God wills you tosuffer.
he that hath sufferedforinstance, Christ first, and in His person the believer: a generalproposition.
hath ceasedliterally,”has been made to cease,” has obtained by the veryfact of His having suffered once for all, a cessation from sin,which had heretofore lain on Him (Ro6:6-11, especially, 1Pe 4:7).The Christian is by faith one with Christ: as then Christ by death isjudicially freed from sin; so the Christian who has in the person ofChrist died, has no more to do with it judicially, and ought to haveno more to do with it actually. “The flesh” is the spherein which sin has place.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh….. The apostle having finished his digression concerning Christ’s preaching in the ministry of Noah, to men whose spirits were now in prison, and concerning the salvation of Noah’s family in the ark, by water, and concerning its antitype, baptism, its nature and effect, returns to the sufferings of Christ he had before made mention of; and argues from thence to holiness of life, and patience in sufferings, after this manner; seeing then Christ, the eternal Son of God, the Lord of glory, the holy and Just One, suffered such indignities, reproaches, and persecutions from men, the wrath of God, the curses of the law, and death itself; and that not for himself, nor for angels, but for men, and those not all men, otherwise his death, with respect to some, must be in vain; but for a particular number of men, in distinction from others, described in the beginning of this epistle, as elect, according to the foreknowledge of God; and these sufferings he endured in the room and stead of those persons, in the days of his flesh, while here on earth, and in his human nature, both soul and body, and was crucified through the weakness of his flesh, and for the sins of our flesh, and which he bore in his own:
arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; that was in Christ; as he suffered for you, do ye likewise suffer for him, in his cause, for righteousness sake, for the sake of him and his Gospel; and bear all reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions on his account, willingly and cheerfully, with meekness and patience, as he did, and with the same view; not indeed to make satisfaction for sin, which was his principal design, but that being dead unto sin, you might live unto righteousness. The apostle speaks to the saints, in this exhortation, as to soldiers, and who had many enemies to engage with, and therefore should put on their armour, and be in a readiness to meet any attack upon them:
for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin: meaning either Christ, who having suffered in human nature for the sins of his people, whereby he has made satisfaction for them, is now clear of them; the sins that were imputed to him being took and bore away, finished and made an end of, and he justified from them, and freed from all the effects of them, and punishment for them, as from all the infirmities of human nature, from mortality and death: or the person that has suffered in and with Christ, his head and representative, which is all one as if he had suffered himself, in person; by virtue of which his sin ceases, and he ceases from being chargeable with it, as if he had never sinned; which is the case of every criminal, when he has suffered the penalty of the law for his crime: or else the person that is dead to sin, by virtue of the death of Christ, and, in imitation of it, who has been baptized into Christ’s death, and planted in the likeness of it; whose old man is crucified with Christ, and he is dead with him; who has crucified the affections with the lusts, and through the Spirit has mortified the deeds of the body; which way the generality of interpreters go: such a man has ceased from sin; not from the being and indwelling of it in him; nor from the burden of it on him; nor from a continual war with it in him; nor from slips and falls by it, and into it; no, nor from it in the most solemn and religious services; but as from the guilt of it, and obligation to punishment by it, through the death of Christ; so from the servitude and dominion of it, through the power of divine grace, in consequence of Christ’s death: or rather, the believer that suffers death in his body, for the sake of Christ, such an one immediately ceases from the very being of sin, and all commission of it; he becomes at once perfectly pure and holy, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; and a noble argument this is to meet death without fear, and to suffer it cheerfully and willingly, since the consequence of this will be an entire freedom from sin, than which nothing can be more desirable by a believer: to this agrees the Syriac version, which renders the words thus: “for whoever is dead in his body hath ceased from all sins”; but the Arabic version more fully confirms this sense, and is the best version of the text, and is this; “be ye armed with this (same) thought, that (not for) he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin”; that is, fortify your minds against all the fears of sufferings, and of death, for the sake of Christ, with this single thought; that he that has suffered martyrdom for Christ, in his body, or has suffered death for his sake, or dies in the Lord, is free from sin, and so from sorrow, and is the most happy person imaginable; so that this last clause is not a reason of the former, but points out, and is explanative of what that same mind or thought is Christians should arm themselves with, against the fears of death; and it is the best piece of armour for this service, a saint can make use of.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Mortification of Sin. | A. D. 66. |
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; 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. 3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
The apostle here draws a new inference from the consideration of Christ’s sufferings. As he had before made use of it to persuade to patience in suffering, so here to mortification of sin. Observe,
I. How the exhortation is expressed. The antecedent or supposition is that Christ had suffered for us in the flesh, or in his human nature. The consequent or inference is, “Arm and fortify yourselves likewise with the same mind, courage, and resolution.” The word flesh in the former part of the verse signifies Christ’s human nature, but in the latter part it signifies man’s corrupt nature. So the sense is, “As Christ suffered in his human nature, do you, according to your baptismal vow and profession, make your corrupt nature suffer, by putting to death the body of sin by self-denial and mortification; for, if you do not thus suffer, you will be conformable to Christ in his death and resurrection, and will cease from sin.” Learn, 1. Some of the strongest and best arguments against all sorts of sin are taken from the sufferings of Christ. All sympathy and tenderness for Christ as a sufferer are lost of you do not put away sin. He dies to destroy it; and, though he could cheerfully submit to the worst sufferings, yet he could never submit to the least sin. 2. The beginning of all true mortification lies in the mind, not in penances and hardships upon the body. The mind of man is carnal, full of enmity; the understanding is darkened, being alienated from the life of God, Eph. iv. 18. Man is not a sincere creature, but partial, blind, and wicked, till he be renewed and sanctifies by the regenerating grace of God.
II. How it is further explained, v. 2. The apostle explains what he means by being dead to sin, and ceasing from sin, both negatively and positively. Negatively, a Christian ought no longer to live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the sinful lusts and corrupt desires of carnal wicked men; but, positively, he ought to conform himself to the revealed will of the holy God. Learn, 1. The lusts of men are the springs of all their wickedness, Jas 1:13; Jas 1:14. Let occasional temptations be what they will, they could not prevail, were it not for men’s own corruptions. 2. All good Christians make the will of God, not their own lusts or desires, the rule of their lives and actions. 3. True conversion makes a marvellous change in the heart and life of every one who partakes of it. It brings a man off from all his old, fashionable, and delightful lusts, and from the common ways and vices of the world, to the will of God. It alters the mind, judgment, affections, way, and conversation of every one who has experienced it.
III. How it is enforced (v. 3): For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, c. Here the apostle argues from equity. “It is but just, equal, and reasonable, that as you have hitherto all the former part of your life served sin and Satan, so you should now serve the living God.” Though those were Jews to whom the apostle wrote, yet the living among the Gentiles they had learned their way. Observe, 1. When a man is truly converted, it is very grievous to him to think how the time past of his life has been spent the hazard he has run so many years, the mischief he has done to others, the dishonour done to God, and the loss he has sustained, are very afflicting to him. 2. While the will of man is unsanctified and corrupt, he walks continually in wicked ways; he makes them his choice and delight, his work and business, and he makes a bad condition daily worse and worse. 3. One sin, allowed, draws on another. Here are six named, and they have a connection and dependence one upon another. (1.) Lasciviousness or wantonness, expressed in looks, gesture, or behaviour, Rom. xiii. 13. (2.) Lusts, acts of lewdness, such as whoredom and adultery. (3.) Excess of wine, though short of drunkenness, an immoderate use of it, to the prejudice of health or business, is here condemned. (4.) Revellings, or luxurious feastings, too frequent, too full, or too expensive. (5.) Banquetings, by which is meant gluttony or excess in eating. (6.) Abominable idolatry; the idol-worship of the Gentiles was attended with lewdness, drunkenness, gluttony, and all sorts of brutality and cruelty; and these Jews living long among them were, some of them at least, debauched and corrupted by such practices. 4. It is a Christian’s duty not only to abstain from what is grossly wicked, but also from those things that are generally the occasions of sin, or carry the appearance of evil. Excess of wine and immoderate feasting are forbidden as well as lust and idolatry.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
For as much then as Christ suffered in the flesh ( ). Genitive absolute with second aorist active participle of , to suffer, and the locative case of (flesh). The (then, therefore) draws and applies the main lesson of 3:18-22, the fact that Christ suffered for us.
Arm ye yourselves also ( ). Direct middle first aorist imperative of , old verb from (weapon, Joh 18:3), in metaphorical sense, here only in N.T.
With the same mind ( ). Accusative of the thing (content), , old word (from , ), putting in mind, thinking, will, in N.T. only here and Heb 4:12. “Here again Christus Patiens is our ” (Bigg).
For (). Reason for the exhortation.
Hath ceased from sin ( ). Perfect middle indicative of to make cease and the ablative singular , but B reads the dative plural (cf. Ro 6:1f.). Temptation has lost its appeal and power with such a man.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Arm yourselves [] . Only here in New Testament. The thought is Pauline. See Rom 13:12; 2Co 6:7; Eph 6:10, 17; 1Th 5:8; Col 3:12.
Mind [] . Only here and Heb 4:12. Literally the word means thought, and so some render it here. Rev. puts it in margin. The rendering intent, resolution, is very doubtful. It seems rather to be the thought as determining the resolution. Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, be ye also willing to suffer in the flesh.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh.” Peter concludes that Jesus Christ has suffered in the flesh, on the believer’s behalf, and that such suffering should elicit loyalty and gratitude and willingness to suffer from his children, Luk 24:46; Act 3:18; 2Ti 2:12; 2Ti 3:12; 1Pe 2:21.
2) “Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.” (Greek hoplisasthe) arm or fortify yourselves with (hauten) the one of the same mind or disposition — a willingness to suffer for Him. Php_2:5-7.
3) “For he that hath suffered in the flesh.” (Greek hoti ho pathon) the one having suffered (Christ) in the flesh, Heb 2:18; Heb 5:8; Isa 53:5.
4) “Hath ceased from sin.” Has terminated his subjection to the power and presence of sin over him — the sins of others having borne, Heb 9:25-26. Thus he cried, “it is finished.” Joh 19:30.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1 Forasmuch then as Christ When he had before set forth Christ before us, he only spoke of the suffering of the cross; for sometimes the cross means mortification, because the outward man is wasted by afflictions, and our flesh is also subdued. But he now ascends higher; for he speaks of the reformation of the whole man. The Scripture recommends to us a twofold likeness to the death of Christ, that we are to be conformed to him in reproaches and troubles, and also that the old man being dead and extinct in us, we are to be renewed to a spiritual life. (Phi 3:10; Rom 6:4.) Yet Christ is not simply to be viewed as our example, when we speak of the mortificaion of the flesh; but it is by his Spirit that we are really made conformable to his death, so that it becomes effectual to the crucifying of our flesh. In short, as Peter at the end of the last chapter exhorted us to patience after the example of Christ, because death was to him a passage to life; so now from the same death he deduces a higher doctrine, that we ought to die to the flesh and to the world, as Paul teaches us more at large in Rom 6:1. He therefore says, arm yourselves, or be ye armed, intimating that we are really and effectually supplied with invincible weapons to subdue the flesh, if we partake as we ought of the efficacy of Christ’s death.
For he that hath suffered The particle ὅτι does not, I think, denote here the cause, but is to be taken as explanatory; for Peter sets forth what that thought or mind is with which Christ’s death arms us, even that the dominion of sin ought to be abolished in us, so that God may reign in our life. Erasmus has incorrectly, as I think, rendered the word “he who did suffer,” ( patiebatur ) applying it to Christ. For it is an indefinite sentence, which generally extends to all the godly, and has the same meaning with the words of Paul in Rom 6:7,
“
He who is dead is justified or freed from sin;”
for both the Apostles intimate, that when we become dead to the flesh, we have no more to do with sin, that it should reign in us, and exercise its power in our life. (44)
It may, however, be objected, that Peter here speaks unsuitably in making us to be conformable to Christ in this respect, that we suffer in the flesh; for it is certain that there was nothing sinful in Christ which required to be corrected. But the answer is obvious, that it is not necessary that a comparison should correspond in all its parts. It is then enough that we should in a measure be made conformable to the death of Christ. In the same way is also explained, not unfitly, what Paul says, that we are planted in the likeness of his death, (Rom 6:5😉 for the manner is not altogether the same, but that his death is become in a manner the type and pattern of our mortification.
We must also notice that the word flesh is put here twice, but in a different sense; for when he says that Christ suffered in the flesh, he means that the human nature which Christ had taken from us was made subject to death, that is, that Christ as a man naturally died. In the second clause, which refers to us, flesh means the corruption, and the sinfulness of our nature; and thus suffering in the flesh signifies the denying of ourselves. We now see what is the likeness between Christ and us, and what is the difference; that as he suffered in the flesh taken from us, so the whole of our flesh ought to be crucified.
(44) The subject of this passage, from 1Pe 3:14, is suffering unjustly, or for righteousness’ sake, and Christ is brought as an example, he being just, suffered for the unjust. After a digression at the 19 verse of the third chapter, the Apostle returns here to his former subject, the example of Christ suffering in the flesh or in his body and in order to retain still the idea that he was just when he suffered, this clause seems to have been put in parenthetically, “For he who suffered ceased from sin,” that is, had no sin, but was just. And hence in the following verses he exhorts them to lead a holy life whatever might be the opposition from the world, so that they might be like their Savior, suffering unjustly, they themselves being innocent.
1. “Christ then having suffered for us in the flesh, arm ye also yourselves with the same mind, (for he who suffered in the flesh ceased from sin;)
2. so as to live no longer the remaining time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”
They were exhorted to resolve to follow the example of Christ, but in such a way as not to suffer for their sins, but for righteousness’ sake. It is implied that they had been evil-doers, but they were no longer to be so, otherwise their suffering in the flesh would not be like that of Christ. To suffer as well-doers, and not as evil-doers, was to suffer as Christ did. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE CALL TO HOLY LIVING
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
1Pe. 4:1. In the flesh.Or to the flesh; i.e., so far as the flesh is concerned. The same sphere in which Christian disciples were called to suffer. Same mind.Or thought. The same temper of trust, obedience, and submission. Put yourselves into the same disposition. Ceased from sin.Hath been caused to rest. The moral result of the suffering is deliverance from the motions of sins. But it is suffering borne in the mind of Christ that alone has its full moral power on us. See Rom. 6:7-11.
1Pe. 4:2. This verse explains the previous verse. Suffering, rightly borne, brings a mood of submission to the will of God, and this involves our deliverance from our own self-will. A man ceases to live unto the lusts, desires, of his own heart, when he comes fully to do and bear Gods holy will All sensual objects, pleasures, profits, honours, which are repugnant to the will of God.
1Pe. 4:3. Will of the Gentiles.Almost satirical, as addressed to Jews. It was altogether unworthy of them to take up with the self-indulgent customs of the Gentiles; it was impossible for Jews who had become Christians in any way to keep association with old evil practices. It seems that both Gentiles and bigoted Jews were trying to draw the Christian Jews away from their profession by the enticements of sensual indulgence, and public excitements. If we could understand the state of society in those days, we should readily see how attractive, and how subtle and strong in their influence, those enticements and temptations were, and therefore how needful was the apostolic warning. Those pledged to do the will of Christ must in no sense allow themselves to do the will of the Gentiles. To us Christ our Master must be all, or nothing at all. Lasciviousness.A plural form for all kinds of bodily impurity. Lusts.See above. Excess of wine.A contemptuous word is usedwine-swillings. Involving loss of due self-restraint. Revellings.Roystering parties. Banquetings.Or carousings; drinking-bouts. Idolatries.With reference to the excitements and immoralities usually associated with idol feast-times. It is evident that licentious Jews had sadly fallen into evil ways, but it is difficult to conceive that the Christian Jews had yielded to such enticements. Perhaps St. Peter only warns them of serious possibilities of temptation.
1Pe. 4:4. Wherein.In regard to which fleshly life. Christians always excite surprise in persisting in separation from carnal indulgences. Riot.Or letting loose of bodily passions. The word used may mean, sink, slough, puddle. Speaking evil of you.Slanderously affirming that you are as bad as themselves. Such slander was part of the suffering of the Christians; and they must take care that they gave no conceivable occasion for it.
1Pe. 4:5. Who.That is, these revilers and slanderers. They will surely be called to account before God. They who now demand an account, will one day have to render it. St. Peter offers the consideration of Gods near judgment, fur the comfort and assurance of Christians unjustly slandered. The early disciples thought of Christs vindication as near at hand, Hence St. Peter includes the slanderers of his day among the living, as just about to be judged (Bengel).
1Pe. 4:6. Them that are dead.Not the souls of the dead; but to those who once were alive, and are now dead; e.g., the men of the age of Noah, to whom reference is made in the preceding chapter. This sentence should help us to understand the preaching to the spirits in prison. In 1Pe. 4:5 the quick and the dead are distinguished. The familiar apostolic meaning is the dead before Christs coming, and the quick or alive at Christs coming. This is the idea of dead in this verse. Alford thinks those in their graves are meant. According to men.That is, the discipline of life, the common experience of human suffering, was Gods gospel preached to them, with a view to their quickening to spiritual life. If they failed to respond, there could be for them but a fearful looking for of judgment. St. Peter is comforting tempted and tried Christians, by assuring them that their tempters and persecutors are in the hands of God, in the just judgment of God. Even such as are now dead had the gospel preached to them, with this result, that the common judgment should pass upon them in the flesh, and yet that they should have a higher life before God by the operation of the Spirit (W. W.). They were judged after the manner of men, by the laws by which all men are judged according to their works; but the purpose of that judgment, like that of the judgments that come upon men in this life, was to rescue them from a final condemnation (Plumptre). Many of the slanderers and persecutors of the Christians would be their personal friends and relatives; and St. Peter would feel it necessary to temper and relieve, as far as possible, his denunciations of them. We all want some ground of hope concerning our unbelieving and ungodly friends.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Pe. 4:1-6
Suffering in the Flesh as Help to Ceasing from Sin.It will be seen how directly adapted, pointed, and practical, St. Peters teachings are. They apply precisely to the conditions, sufferings, and temptations of the brethren of the Dispersion, to whom the epistle is addressed. St. Peter has not the interest in theology which characterises St. Paul, and he should not be studied in order to find settings of doctrinal truth. His supreme interest is in Christian living, and in truths only so far as they may inspire and guide godly living. And in this epistle he is mainly concerned with the hindrances to Christian living which come from the disabilities and distresses which making a Christian profession then involved. He looks at the sufferings of the brethren from different points of view, and from every point of view he finds encouragement by showing that they always work together for good. Here his point of view is the peril occasioned by having to live in the very midst of a licentious Gentile societya peril all the greater because they once indulged in the unrestrained and degrading customs of Gentile life, and there was some affinity for such things left in their fleshly nature. And he reminds them that suffering in the flesh was the very thing to deliver them from the power of these evils, the very thing to work the very last relics of these things out of their natures, and enable them to cease altogether from sin.
I. Christs example of suffering in the flesh.What was the point of that example? What was the power that sustained Him? And what were the results of His endurance? It was distinctly and precisely such suffering as we have to undergo, suffering in the fleshly, human sphere; bodily and mental suffering, arising from conditions similar to ours; bodily states, sensibilities, oppositions of evil men, etc. It is only too easy to represent Christ as so unique a Being that we cannot see in His any likeness to our own bodily, fleshly sufferings. He was in all points tested, disciplined by suffering, even as we are. St. John vigorously pleads for the truth that Christ is come in the flesh St. Peter vigorously pleads for the truth that Christ suffered in the flesh. As to the power which sustained Him under the suffering, we have to see that the grace of God rested upon Him as it rests upon us; but beside that, and as the special point of interest now, Jesus was sustainedas we may be, and ought to be sustainedby His full loyalty and devotion to God, and absolute resolve to serve Him in righteousness and well doing, whatever that might involve. And as to the result, it may be said that, in entire consecration to God, to righteousness as Gods will, is always found the deliverance of a man from the motions of sins in his members. Sin is essentially self-centredness, self-seeking; and a man ceases from self-willedness and sin when he gives himself wholly over, in devotion and service to another. Christ absolutely ceased from the service of self, because He was entirely absorbed in the service of the Father.
II. Deliverance and elevation may come to Christians through their suffering in the flesh (1Pe. 4:2-3).The acceptance of bodily suffering in doing what we know to be right, and the will of God, is the sign of the highest moral triumph, of deliverance from the self. It lifts a man right up above the plane in which men seek their own pleasures, and indulge their own lusts and passions. To be willing to suffer for righteousness sake is proof of self-mastery. No man ever chooses suffering, or submits easily to it, save under the persuasion of some high and holy motive. Illustration may be taken from the case present to the mind of St. Peter. These Christians once had shared in the self-indulgent and demoralising Pagan life around them. On principle they had separated themselves from it all. But the separation was putting them under disability, and causing them suffering. Their loyalty to principle was severely tested, but if they held fast their loyalty, and patiently bore their sufferings, they would surely find that this would perfect the separation, and make it easy to stand quite aloof from every evil feature of the old Pagan life. It is the point which may be set in adaptation to the circumstances of every age. In the earnestness of the Christian lifeand earnestness is effectively shown in willingness to endurelies the true safety from surrounding evils, howsoever they may appeal to the fleshly nature.
III. The misunderstanding those must expect who are willing to suffer in the flesh (1Pe. 4:4).Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot; speaking evil of you. The early Christians were, in a remarkable way, exposed to slander and misrepresentation; and these are often harder to bear than actual persecutions affecting body and circumstances. A Christian who is indifferent concerning material things is intensely jealous concerning his good name, because the honour of his Lord is bound up in his keeping his good name. But even this he must be willing to bear; by his persistency in good and gracious living putting to silence the ignorance of foolish men. A Christian has always this effective power against the slanderer he can live so that no one can by any possibility credit the slanders. He can live so as to stand in the acceptance of the righteous God, and so as fearlessly to anticipate the time when human lives must be appraised and judged. The apostles, with their anticipation of the immediate return of Christ for judgment, constantly urge that whatever benefits accrue to the faithful will be shared by the Christians who have died before He comes, as well as by those who are alive when He comes. As they contemplated material blessings from the coming, it was necessary to show that those who had died before He came would be placed under no disability. St. Peter in no way refers, in 1Pe. 4:6, to old-world sinners, but entirely to the Christians who had suffered in well-doing right up to death. The gospelthis same gospel of suffering with Christ, and in His spiritwas preached unto them (see Mat. 5:10-12). They were misunderstood, judged, persecuted by men in their fleshly life. But in their loyalty and faithfulness they lived their spiritual life; in their spiritstheir inner spiritual lifethey kept true to God, and the will of God, as they knew it. And their being dead would prove no hindrance to their sharing the full Divine acceptance with the loyal living, and with Christ, who in the same way suffered in the flesh.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
1Pe. 4:1. Suffering in the Flesh.A key to the passage is found in the fact that it is addressed to martyrs and prospective martyrs, and through them to all sufferers of bodily woes. Willingness to suffer is the sign of ceasing from sin, the essence of sin being our living according to our self-will, and unto our self-pleasing. Willingness to suffer was a sign of Christs life to the will of God, and death to self-will. He was willing to suffer even to extremity, even unto death. That mind of willingness was Christs defence and power, and it may be ours. Christ presents the example of putting the body under restraint by the dominion of the will or spirit. His suffering in the flesh was for us, as an example and power upon us. Take these points:
1. Christs experience of suffering in the flesh.
2. In what senses this suffering was borne for us.
3. How the mastery of the fleshwhich takes such a diversity of formscan be regarded as one great battle.
4. What are the two possible laws under the control of which human lives can be conductedthe will of God or the will of the flesh?
5. How altogether inconsistent a fleshly life must be to a Christian, seeing he is a regenerate man and born unto God. Paraphrase. As Christ suffered in the flesh without shrinking, take for your protection and support the same thought which proved a protection and support to Himviz., that to be rid of sin for ever was the greatest of all possible blessings, and that this is only attainable through the bodily death. And the result of embracing this thought will be that for the rest of your lives on earth (so soon, perhaps, to be cut violently short) you may no longer live to mens lusts, but to Gods will.Ellicotts Commentary.
Christs Sufferings.The Redeemer of the world is infinitely above us, and in another sense actually beside us. We adore Him as King of angels, and love Him as our Elder Brother. His sympathy is as true as His sovereignty; and because He once suffered being tempted, He is able now to succour them that are tempted. His incarnation was necessary. The suffering humanity of our Lord is the point where we may touch Him. He was a real man, living, sensitive, suffering, sympathetic, and such a Saviour became us. To see His footprints in the path we have to tread inspires us with willingness to endure to the end.
I. Try to understand what the sufferings of Jesus Christ were.There is a mystery about His sufferings which even far-seeing angels cannot discover. Let reverence walk hand in hand with study.
1. There can be no doubt that Jesus was exempted from many of the physical ills from which we suffer. He was healthy, vigorous, with life replete. Many of our physical sufferings we bring on ourselves. Jesus suffered as a man, but not as a sinner. His whole life was a martyrdom. The pure amongst the impure.
2. His utter loneliness. His was the solitude of a holy soul surrounded by sinners; of a heavenly spirit in contact with things earthly and sensual; of a mind whose higher thoughts not a single being on earth could appreciate; whose truest objects in living and dying as He did none could comprehend.
3. The expression in the flesh reminds us of His uncongenial surroundings. The environment of our life has much to do with our happiness or misery. He lived and died among a despised people. At any moment He might have left the world to its sins and sorrows, and risen triumphant above them all. Then He could not have been our Brother, our Great High Priest. Jesus is our Example.
II. How these sufferings were endured by Him.
1. It is evident that He accepted them as Gods appointment for Him here. The cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it? indicates His attitude to trouble right through. It was a cup measured and proffered by the Fathers handa Father whose will was wise and good. The secret of patient, brave endurance of the ills of life is that God rules them, and in the long run will bring Divine issues out of them, as He did out of Gethsemane and Calvary.
2. Our Lord never allows Himself to be absorbed in His own sorrows. Suffering tends to make us self-absorbed. No selfishness in Jesus. He was always ready to enter into other peoples joys and griefs, whatever His own sorrows might be. If a follower of Christ, our couch of pain will be the centre of joy and peace to those who circle round us. Effort for others shall mitigate our own distress. Arm yourselves also with the same mind.
III. How can we do this?
1. By Gods help in answer to prayer. We must set Christ before us as our Pattern. A living example is more helpful than abstract principles. Keep Jesus steadily before you.
2. Jesus is no historic personage, but a Living Presence. I am with you alway.
3. He identifies Himself with us. If we suffer with Him, we shall be also glorified together. Trials of faith and patience and temper are not purposeless. Nothing in all this multitudinous world walks with aimless feet. The end of His pathway was not Calvary but heaven. Those who follow it will find at last, not a plunge into an abyss, but a path of ascension to realms sorrowless and sinless, which He entered and claimed for us when He ascended on high and a cloud received Him out of His servants sight.A. Rowland, LL.B., B.A.
1Pe. 4:1-2. The Mind of Christ the Christians Armour.The ruling thought of the text is this: You may be persecuted, you may even be martyred; you may have much to suffer in your flesh, in your circumstances; but so had Christ. You may escape it all by giving up your allegiance to Christ. Live to yourself and to your own self-will, to the indulgence of your own love of ease and safety, and then you need not thus suffer in the flesh. But if you have the same mind as Christ, if you are determined to set the will of God first, and bear whatever doing that will may involve, then you will find yourself lifted up in spirit so as to look cheerfully on to suffering, even to martyrdom, and you will feel that self-willthe essence of sinhas ceased; it is crushed within you. Christs suffering in the flesh specially directs our thought to the physical sufferings of the cross. It was from those physical pains that His human nature shrank, and in Gethsemane He triumphed over that shrinking, and won the victory of a perfect and submissive trust in His Fathers will. He suffered, yielding His body to the great and prolonged agony, but able to bear it all calmly unto the end, because the selfthe essence of sinwas quite mastered, and He could say, Thy will be done. Arm yourselves with the same mind. Christ was defended from yielding to bodily suffering, defended, too, from human shrinking from it, by a certain intent, thought, purpose, resolution, which may be sharply expressed in this way: I shall do and bear the will of God, whatever it may have in it. We can have that mind. Prospective suffering will show whether we have it. Actual suffering will test its power and influence on us. Ceased from sin. Understand sin here to stand for that which is the essence of sin, self will, self-pleasing, and the sentence becomes clearer. Live to do the will of God. Set that first, and you will surely find that you become dead to self; you cease from sinful shrinking back; nay, the actual suffering will but help to kill the self in you. The mind of Christ then will arm us for the battle and suffering of life.
I. What is that mind?Like the early Christians, we find that in the Christian lot there is the needs be for what answers to their persecutions and martyrdoms. And we cannot control our circumstances. Theres a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will. Indeed, no man can master his circumstances until he has mastered himself; but then, even if he never can alter the things, he can alter the set and tone of his mind and feeling towards the things, and mate and master them thus. For, after all, the various things of life are to men according to their mind and feeling towards them. Things hurt us in one mood of mind which we do not at all feel in another; and by differences of disposition mens troubles vary. The one most impressive of all lessons learned from the human life of the Lord Jesus is this: He could not change His circumstances or surroundings; He would not have done so if He could; and yet He really mastered them all by the inward feeling and purpose of submission and obedience which He so fully cherished. Nothing can master the disabilities of a human life but soul-strength; nothing can give and keep soul-strength save the simple, cheerful determination that everywhere and in everything we will do and bear Gods will. Here is the answer to the question, What shall arm us for the battle and sorrow of life? It is the mind of Christ, the set of soul towards God, and so towards holy things, which was characteristic of Christ. Can we yet more fully see what that prevailing mind and purpose of Christ was? Look at His childhood. There we often find the fore shadowings of the life; and in such a child as Jesus we may well expect to see the prophecy of the life. The thought evidently abiding in Him was this: Life for Me is My Fathers business. He began with something in His mindwith an idea and a resolution that lifted Him above the thought of suffering. Upon our Lord, during His ministry, there came awful visions of the woe awaiting Him in the Holy City, and He plainly saw, at the centre of all that woe, the agonising cross; and yet, what was His mind? It is revealed at once in this: He set His face steadfastly towards Jerusalem. Strong to go forward, even into the mists and the darkness, because He must simply do Gods will. Gethsemane is the place where the mind of Christ is so fully revealed. It was Calvary without the bodily pain. There came upon the frail and worn human nature of our Lord the full vision of the awful scenes of the next day, and that human nature cried out in its shrinking, If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. But quickly after it comes the triumph-cry of the souls set purpose: Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. That is the mind of Christ which armed Him for all bearing work. And He was victorious right to the end. The last words that broke from His dying lips showed how thoroughly He had ceased from sin; He was dead to all self-will, all self-seekingFather, into Thy hands I commend My spirit. Get that spirit or mind of Christ. Be like Him, and it will not be hard to live the rest of life in the flesh, not to the lusts of men, not to the self-seekings of our own hearts, but to the will of God.
II. How may this mind be gained?Christs suffering in the flesh was intended to bring closely home to us His kinship with us. Suffering is the common lot of humanity. However we separate Christ from us in His Divine nature, we must keep Him quite near in His human nature. We cannot be like Him in degree, we can be in kind. How can the mind of Christ be gained? We must have the same thought of God that Christ had. That only comes out of personal relations. We must have the same thought of self that Christ had. Self second, God first. We must have the same thought of life that Christ had. Life, the sphere of Gods mission. We must have the same thought of suffering that Christ had. The testing of the full obedience and trust.
III. How will this mind practically help us?See how it will make us soul-strong
(1) in cases of bodily depression;
(2) in those changes that involve suffering;
(3) in perplexed, anxious times;
(4) when called to part with beloved friends. We might cover all human woes, and show how the medicine for all is the mind of Christ; we shall only cease from self as we can get it. It is the uplifted face of the Son to the Father, and the trembling cry from the bitter crossAs Thou wilt. But neither Christ, nor we, can ever feel it, or ever say it, until our souls get a vision of the Fathers hands. All is well then. We can suffer and be strong.
1Pe. 4:6. Preaching to the Dead.Having just spoken of Christ as the judge of the living and the dead, he now affirms that the deadthose who are now deadwill be judged according to men in the flesh; that is, as those now living will be judged. But to those now living the gospel has been preached. They have heard of the redemption provided for them in Christ Jesus, and have, therefore, been placed in the most favourable circumstances for preparing for the judgment, and escaping final condemnation. Is this the case also with the dead? with the heathen world, who, indeed, ran to all kinds of excess in sin, but never had the light of revelation? The apostle answers in the affirmative, for the gospel was preached to them also; for when Christ, in His disembodied spirit, went into Hades, He proclaimed to them the good tidings of salvation, and offered to them deliverance from their prison, and a title to eternal life. St. Peter goes back to the former passage (1Pe. 3:18), and re-affirms the fact of Christs preaching to the inhabitants of the unseen world; and further, he affirms the object of the preaching, that they, being judged as having merited death, might, notwithstanding, live as regards the spirit. St. Paul affirms, The body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness (Rom. 8:10), meaning that the body, even of a Christian, dies on account of sin, but that the spirit lives because of the righteousness it has obtained through Christ. Even so have all past generations died, whilst the antediluvians especially, and others who died in a state of alienation from God, were judged to imprisonment in Hades, until Christ came and offered them salvation. If any of them accepted itand perhaps many of them didthey already live in the spirit, having entored upon a state of blessedness which Christ prepared even for them.Thornley Smith.
The Dead and the Living.The dead here, contrasted with the living, must naturally mean those who were in the state of the dead when this message came to them. It sounds like an unexpected and mysterious extension of the gospel message, so that not living men alone, but the departed also, came directly within the range of its proclamation. The change was to affect their state, not in the sight of men but of God alone. The men in the days of Noah, the dwellers in the cities of the plain, the Egyptian host, the Canaanite armies, to the eye of men were all swept away in one indiscriminate judgment. Yet in each case there may have been a secret and powerful work of repentance, by which a remnant turned to God in the hour of calamity and desolation. To all such the message of mercy might come, when our Lord, in His separate spirit, preached to the dead, to the spirits in prison; and the destined result was attained, that they might live according to God in the spirit, or gain a firm hold of that Saviour and His finished sacrifice, on whom, as the promised seed of the woman, with a dim and starlight faith they had learned to put their trust in the hour of judgment, when all their refuges of lies were swept away.Birks.
Alive and Dead.The remarkable expression used by St. Paul in 1Th. 4:15, We that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep, indicates a prevailing sentiment in the early Church which materially helps in the understanding of this difficult verse. When the visible coming of Christ was daily expected, those seemed to be placed at grave disadvantage who were taken away by death before He came. In this way Christians mourned over their dead fellow-Christians, as having missed the great Christian hope and privilege. St. Peter intends to comfort such distressed souls. He is speaking of dead Christians and living Christians. He bids the troubled ones be quite sure that as the gospel was preached to their dead friends, and they found the eternal life through it, they do live, according to Gods thought for them, that very spiritual life into which we all are to be brought at Christs coming, though, in the ordering of Gods providence, they had died. The mistakes in apprehending both this and the previous passage arise from our putting our modern ideas into St. Peters mind, instead of simply endeavouring to discover what actually was in his mind.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4
1Pe. 4:2. Lawful Pleasure.Undoubtedly there is a degree of natural pleasure, connected with the exercise of the appetites, which is lawful. But it is very obvious that self is the natural man, which, in always seeking for pleasure, without regarding either its nature or its lawfulness, has polluted everything here. It is in connection with the appetites in their unsanctified state that we find one of the strong ties which bind man to his idols, and which subject his proud spirit. This strong bond must be sundered. No one can be acceptable to God who does not crucify and reject every form of attraction and pleasure from this source which is not in accordance with the intentions of nature, and does not receive the Divine approbation and sanction.Upham.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER FOUR
1Pe. 4:1-2 Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
Expanded Translation
Inasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, you also must equip yourself with the same frame of mind (as He possessed) for the one (Christian) who has had suffering in the flesh has ceased from (the practices of) sin; in order that you might not from now on live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
_______________________
as Christ suffered in the flesh
SUFFEREDpascho, see 1Pe. 2:19.
arm ye yourselves
ARMhoplidzo: to arm, equip; in the middle voice (here) to arm ones self, equip ones self.
with the same mind
MINDennoia, knowledge, insight, understanding, manner of thinking or feeling. In Heb. 4:12 it is rendered intents. The same word is used in a similar setting by Paul: Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philip. 1Pe. 2:5). We should, therefore, take on the same mind or attitude that Christ dida readiness and willingness to suffer for God and His kingdom.
for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin
Some would refer this phrase to Christ. However, the more likely reference is to Christians in general. Christ never ceased practicing sinHe was without it (1Pe. 2:22). The true disciple who wishes to profit from the example of Christ, will cease his life of sin even though he must suffer persecution for it. Suffering endured with a Christian attitude will have a purifying influence upon ones life!
that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh
Suffering, persecution, and trial provide no excuse for falling into sin. Rather, such times grant to us opportunity for spiritual growth and development. Watch that person who has learned how to keep a strong grip on the Saviour in time of great stress and difficultyobserve him over the yearsand you will also be observing one who is conquering sin.
to the lusts of men . . . will of God
The two stand in direct contrast, and they always have: Isa. 55:6-9. The true follower of Christ casts off the former lusts and submits himself without reserve to the will of God.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
IV.
(1) Forasmuch then . . .Literally, a participial phrase: Christ, then, having suffered in (or, to) the fleshi.e., so far as the flesh is concerned. The reference is to the words killed in (or, to) the flesh in 1Pe. 3:18, to which the word then takes us back. It is difficult to decide about the right of the words for us to stand in the text. Tischendorf and Lachmann strike them out, and they are probably right in doing so. The authority for the reading for you is nearly as strong; but in fact neither is wanted here, as the point is not the atoning character of Christs death, but the death itself.
Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.Or rather, with the same conception. It does not mean merely put yourselves into the same disposition: that is, resolve to die with Him. Though the word which is here rendered mind may possibly bear the meaning intent assigned to it in Heb. 4:12 (the only other place in the New Testament where it occurs), the more natural and common sense is that of conception, notion, view. Christ is therefore said to have been armed with a particular conception or view, which He found to be sufficient shield in the day of suffering; and we are exhorted to try the same defensive armour. The view which Christ found so efficacious was the view He took of the suffering itself. What that view was is forthwith explained.
For he that hath suffered in the flesh . . .Rather, that he that hath suffered to the flesh is at rest from, sin. This is the view which we are to take. The thought is probably derived from Rom. 6:7. The death of the body puts a stop (at any rate, for the redeemed) to any further possibility of sin. Welcome, death! A slight difficulty is caused by the implied fact that Christ, too, in dying ceased from sin. But the Greek word for hath ceased literally means hath been caused to rest, St. Peter using expressly (for the only time in the New Testament) that part of the verb which does not mean a voluntary cessation from what one was doing before, but a pause imposed from without. And that Christ looked upon His death as a boon of rest from sin (it does not say from sinning) is not only a true and impressive thought, but is fully justified by Rom. 6:10, He died unto sin, and even by His cry, It is finished. Whatever harshness there is in the thought is much softened by the fact that St. Peter names it as the view we are to take, not directly as the view He took; so that it admits of some adjustment when applied to Him.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(13-4: 6) EXHORTATION TO KEEP A PURE CONSCIENCE.It is the only charm against persecution. It is like Christ to suffer with a good conscience; and He had His reward for it, in bringing us, and even the spirits of men who had died impenitent, to God thereby. It is the very meaning of the baptism by which He saves us. To feel its beauty and safety, we have but to consider the ugliness and danger of our former life.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 4
THE OBLIGATION OF THE CHRISTIAN ( 1Pe 4:1-5 ) 4:1-5 Since then, Christ suffered in the flesh, you too must arm yourselves with the same conviction, that he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, and as a result of this the aim of such a man now is to spend the time that remains to him of life in obedience to the will of God. For the time that is past is sufficient to have done what the Gentiles will to do, to have lived a life of licentiousness, lust, drunkenness, revellings, carousings, and abominable idolatry. They think it strange when you do not rush to join them in the same flood of profligacy, and they abuse you for not doing so. They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
The Christian is committed to abandon the ways of heathenism and to live as God would have him to do.
Peter says, “He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” What exactly does he mean? There are three distinct possibilities.
(i) There is a strong line in Jewish thought that suffering is in itself a great purifier. In the Apocalypse of Baruch the writer, speaking of the experiences of the people of Israel, says, “Then, therefore, were they chastened that they might be sanctified” (13: 10). In regard to the purification of the spirits of men Enoch says, “And in proportion as the burning of their body becomes severe, a corresponding change will take place in their spirit for ever and ever; for before the Lord of spirits there will be none to utter a lying word” (67: 9). The terrible sufferings of the time are described in 2 Maccabees, and the writer says, “I beseech those that read this book that they be not discouraged, terrified or shaken for these calamities, but that they judge these punishments not to be for destruction but for chastening of our nation. For it is a token of his great goodness, when evil-doers are not suffered to go on in their ways any long time, but forthwith punished. For not as with other nations, whom the Lord patiently forbeareth to punish, till the day of judgment arrive, and they be come to the fullness of their sins, so dealeth he with us, lest that, being come to the height of sin, afterwards he should take vengeance on us. And though he punish sinners with adversity, yet doth he never forsake his people” ( 2Ma_6:12-16 ). The idea is that suffering sanctifies and that not to be punished is the greatest punishment which God can lay upon a man. “Blessed is the man whom thou dost chasten, O Lord,” said the Psalmist ( Psa 94:12). “Happy is the man whom God reproves,” said Eliphaz ( Job 5:17). “For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” ( Heb 12:6).
If this is the idea, it means that he who has been disciplined by suffering has been cured of sin. That is a great thought. It enables us, as Browning said, “to welcome each rebuff that turns earth’s smoothness rough.” It enables us to thank God for the experiences which hurt but save the soul. But great as this thought is, it is not strictly relevant here.
(ii) Bigg thinks that Peter is speaking in terms of the experience which his people had of suffering for the Christian faith. He puts it this way: “He who has suffered in meekness and in fear, he who has endured all that persecution can do to him rather than join in wicked ways can be trusted to do right; temptation has manifestly no power over him.” The idea is that if a man has come through persecution and not denied the name of Christ, he comes out on the other side with a character so tested and a faith so strengthened, that temptation cannot touch him any more.
Again there is a great thought here, the thought that every trial and every temptation are meant to make us stronger and better. Every temptation resisted makes the next easier to resist; and every temptation conquered makes us better able to overcome the next attack. But again it is doubtful if this thought comes in very relevantly here.
(iii) The third explanation is most probably the right one. Peter has just been talking about baptism. Now the great New Testament picture of baptism is in Rom 6:1-23. In that chapter Paul says that the experience of baptism is like being buried with Christ in death and raised with him to newness of life. We think that this is what Peter is thinking of here. He has spoken of baptism; and now he says, “He who in baptism has shared the sufferings and the death of Christ, is risen to such newness of life with him that sin has no more dominion over him” ( Rom 6:14). Again we must remember that this is the baptism of the man who is voluntarily coming over from paganism into Christianity. In that act of baptism he is identified with Christ; he shares his sufferings and even his death; and he shares his risen life and power, and is, therefore, victor over sin.
When that has happened, a man has said good-bye to his former way of life. The rule of pleasure, pride and passion is gone, and the rule of God has begun. This was by no means easy. A man’s former associates would laugh at the new puritanism which had entered his life. But the Christian knows very well that the judgment of God will come, when the judgments of earth will be reversed and the pleasures that are eternal will compensate a thousandfold for the transitory pleasures which had to be abandoned in this life.
THE ULTIMATE CHANCE ( 1Pe 4:6 ) 4:6 For this is the reason why the gospel was preached to the dead, so that, although they have been judged in the flesh like men, they may live in the Spirit like God.
This very difficult passage ends with a very difficult verse. Once again we have the idea of the gospel being preached to the dead. At least three different meanings have been attached to dead. (i) It has been taken to mean those who are dead in sin, not those who are physically dead. (ii) It has been taken to mean those who died be re the Second Coming of Christ; but who heard the gospel before they died and so will not miss the glory. (iii) It has been taken to mean quite simply all the dead There can be little doubt that this third meaning is correct; Peter has just been talking about the descent of Christ to the place of the dead, and here he comes back to the idea of Christ preaching to the dead.
No fully satisfactory meaning has ever been found for this verse; but we think that the best explanation is as follows. For mortal man, death is the penalty of sin. As Paul wrote: “Sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned” ( Rom 5:12). Had there been no sin, there would have been no death; and, therefore, death in itself is a judgment. So Peter says, all men have already been judged when they die; in spite of that Christ descended to the world of the dead and preached the gospel there, giving them another chance to live in the Spirit of God.
In some ways this is one of the most wonderful verses in the Bible, for, if our explanation is anywhere near the truth, it gives a breath-taking glimpse of a gospel of a second chance.
(1) THE DESCENT INTO HELL ( 1Pe 3:18 b-20;4:6) 4:6 He was put to death in the flesh, but he was raised to life in the Spirit, in which also he went and preached to the spirits who are in prison, the spirits who were once upon a time disobedient in the time when the patience of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built…. For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, so that, although they have already been judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the spirit like God.
We have already said that we are here face to face with one of the most difficult passages, not only in Peter’s letter, but in the whole New Testament; and, if we are to grasp what it means, we must follow Peter’s own advice and gird up the loins of our mind to study it.
This passage has lodged in the creed in the phrase: “He descended into hell.” We must first note that this phrase is very misleading. The idea of the New Testament is not that Jesus descended into hell but that he descended into Hades. Act 2:27, as all the newer translations correctly show, should be translated not: “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,” but, “Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades.” The difference is this. Hell is the place of the punishment of the wicked; Hades was the place where all the dead went.
The Jews had a very shadowy conception of life beyond the grave. They did not think in terms of heaven and of hell but of a shadowy world, where the spirits of men moved like grey ghosts in an everlasting twilight and where there was neither strength nor joy. Such was Hades, into which the spirits of all men went after death. Isaiah writes: “For Sheol cannot thank thee, death cannot praise thee; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for thy faithfulness” ( Isa 38:18). The Psalmist wrote: “In death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who can give thee praise?” ( Psa 6:5). “What profit is there in my death if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise thee? Will it tell of thy faithfulness?” ( Psa 30:9). “Dost thou work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise thee? Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave, or thy faithfulness in Abaddon? Are thy wonders known in the darkness, or thy saving help in the land of forgetfulness?” ( Psa 88:10-12). “The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence” ( Psa 115:17). “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” ( Ecc 9:10). The Jewish conception of the world after death was of this grey world of shadows and forgetfulness, in which men were separated from life and light and God.
As time went on, there emerged the idea of stages and divisions in this shadowland. For some it was to last for ever; but for others it was a kind of prison-house in which they were held until the final judgment of God’s wrath should blast them ( Isa 24:21-22; 2Pe 2:4; Rev 20:1-7). So, then, it must first of all be remembered that this whole matter is to be thought of, not in terms of hell, as we understand the word, but in terms of Christ’s going to the dead in their shadowy world.
(2) THE DESCENT INTO HELL ( 1Pe 3:18 b-20;4:6 continued) This doctrine of the descent into Hades, as we must now call it, is based on two phrases in our present passage. It says that Jesus went and preached to the spirits who are in prison ( 1Pe 3:19); and it speaks of the gospel being preached to the dead ( 1Pe 4:6). In regard to this doctrine there have always been differing attitudes amongst thinkers.
(i) There are those who wish to eliminate it altogether. There is the attitude of elimination. Some wish to eliminate it altogether and attempt to do so along two lines.
(a) Peter says that in the Spirit Christ preached to the spirits in prison, who were disobedient in the time when the patience of God waited in the days of Noah, when the ark was being built. It is argued that what this means is that it was in the time of Noah himself that Christ did this preaching; that in the Spirit long ages before this he made his appeal to the wicked men of Noah’s day. This would completely do away with the idea of the descent into Hades. Many great scholars have accepted that view; but we do not think it is the view which comes naturally from Peter’s words.
(b) If we look at Moffatt’s translation, we find something quite different. He translates: “In the flesh he (Christ) was put to death, but he came to life in the Spirit. It was in the Spirit that Enoch also went and preached to the imprisoned spirits who had disobeyed at the time when God’s patience held out during the construction of the ark in the days of Noah.” How does Moffatt arrive at this translation?
The name of Enoch does not appear in any Greek manuscript. But in the consideration of the text of any Greek author, scholars sometimes use a process called emendation. They think that there is something wrong with the text as it stands, that some scribe has perhaps copied it wrongly; and they, therefore, suggest that some word should be changed or added. In this passage Rendel Harris suggested that the word Enoch was missed out in the copying of Peter’s writing and should be put back in.
(Although it involves the use of Greek some readers may be
interested to see how Rendel Harris arrived at this famous
emendation. In the top line in italic print, we have set down
the Greek of the passage in English lettering and beneath each
Greek word its English translation:
thanatotheis ( G2289) men ( G3303) sarki ( G4561)
having been put to death in the flesh
zoopoietheis ( G2227) de ( G1161) pneumati ( G4151)
having been raised to life in the Spirit
en ( G1722) ho ( G3588) kai ( G2532) tois ( G3588)
in which also to the
en ( G1722) phulake ( G5438) pneumasi ( G4151)
in prison spirits
poreutheis ( G4198) ekeruxen ( G2784)
having gone he preached.
(Men ( G3303) and de ( G1161) are what are called particles;
they are not translated but merely mark the contrast between
sarki, G4561, and pneumati, G4151) . It was Rendel Harris’
suggestion that between kai ( G2532) and tois ( G3588) the
word Enoch ( G1802) had dropped out. His explanation was that,
since most manuscript copying was done to dictation, scribes were
very liable to miss words which followed each other, if they
sounded very similar. In this passage:
en ( G1722) ho ( G3588) kai ( G2532) and Enoch ( G1802)
sound very much alike, and Rendel Harris thought it very likely
that Enoch ( G1802) had been mistakenly omitted for that reason).
What reason is there for bringing Enoch ( G1802) into this passage at all? He has always been a fascinating and mysterious person. “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him” ( Gen 5:24). In between the Old and New Testaments many legends sprang up about Enoch and famous and important books were written under his name. One of the legends was that Enoch, though a man, acted as “God’s envoy” to the angels who sinned by coming to earth and lustfully seducing mortal women ( Gen 6:2). In the Book of Enoch it is said that he was sent down from heaven to announce to these angels their final doom (Enoch 12: 1) and that he proclaimed that for them, because of their sin, there was neither peace nor forgiveness ever (Enoch 12 and 13).
So then, according to Jewish legend, Enoch did go to Hades and preach doom to the fallen angels. And Rendel Harris thought that this passage referred, not to Jesus, but to Enoch, and Moffatt so far agreed with him as to put Enoch into his translation. That is an extremely interesting and ingenious suggestion but without doubt it must be rejected. There is no evidence for it at all; and it is not natural to bring in Enoch, for the whole picture is of the work of Christ.
(3) THE DESCENT INTO HELL ( 1Pe 3:18 b-20;4:6 continued) We have seen that the attempt at the elimination of this passage fails.
(ii) The second attitude is limitation. This attitude–and it is that of some very great New Testament interpreters–believes that Peter is indeed saying that Jesus went to Hades and preached, but that he by no means preached to all the inhabitants of Hades. Different interpreters limit that preaching in different ways.
(a) It is argued that Jesus preached in Hades only to the spirits of the men who were disobedient in the days of Noah. Those who hold this view often go on to argue that, since these sinners were desperately disobedient, so much so that God sent the flood and destroyed them ( Gen 6:12-13), we may believe that no man is outside the mercy of God. They were the worst of all sinners and yet they were given another chance of repentance; therefore, the worst of men still have a chance in Christ.
(b) It is argued that Jesus preached to the fallen angels, and preached, not salvation, but final and awful doom. We have already mentioned these angels. Their story is told in Gen 6:1-8. They were tempted by the beauty of mortal women; they came to earth, seduced them and begat children; and because of their action, it is inferred, the wickedness of man was great and his thoughts were always evil. 2Pe 2:4 speaks of these sinning angels as being imprisoned in hell, awaiting judgment. It was to them that Enoch did, in fact, preach; and there are those who think that what this passage means is not that Christ preached mercy and another chance; but that, in token of his complete triumph, he preached terrible doom to those angels who had sinned.
(c) It is argued that Christ preached only to those who had been righteous and that he led them out of Hades into the paradise of God. We have seen how the Jews believed that all the dead went to Hades, the shadowy land of forgetfulness. The argument is that before Christ that was indeed so but he opened the gates of heaven to mankind; and, when he did so, he went to Hades and told the glad news to all the righteous men of all past generations and led them out to God. That is a magnificent picture. Those who hold this view often go on to say that, because of Christ, there is now no time spent in the shadows of Hades and the way to paradise is open as soon as this world closes on us.
(4) THE DESCENT INTO HELL ( 1Pe 3:18 b-20;4:6 continued) (iii) There is the attitude that what Peter is saying is that Jesus Christ, between his death and resurrection, went to the world of the dead and preached the gospel there. Peter says that Jesus Christ was put to death in the flesh but raised to life in the Spirit, and that it was in the Spirit that he so preached. The meaning is that Jesus lived in a human body and was under all the limitations of time and space in the days of his flesh; and died with that body broken and bleeding upon the Cross. But when he rose again, he rose with a spiritual body, in which he was rid of the necessary weaknesses of humanity and liberated from the necessary limitations of time and space. It was in this spiritual condition of perfect freedom that the preaching to the dead took place.
As it stands this doctrine is stated in categories which are outworn. It speaks of the descent into Hades and the very word descent suggests a three-storey universe in which heaven is localized above the sky and Hades beneath the earth. But, laying aside the physical categories of this doctrine, we can find in it truths which are eternally valid and precious, three in particular.
(a) If Christ descended into Hades, then his death was no sham. It is not to be explained in terms of a swoon on the Cross, or anything like that. He really experienced death, and rose again. At its simplest, the doctrine of the descent into Hades lays down the complete identity of Christ with our human condition, even to the experience of death.
(b) If Christ descended into Hades, it means that his triumph is universal. This, in fact, is a truth which is ingrained into the New Testament. It is Paul’s dream that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth ( Php_2:10 ). In the Revelation the song of praise comes from every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth and under the earth ( Rev 5:13). He who ascended into Heaven is he who first descended into the lower parts of the earth ( Eph 4:9-10). The total submission of the universe to Christ is woven into the thought of the New Testament.
(c) If Christ descended into Hades and preached there, there is no corner of the universe into which the message of grace has not come. There is in this passage the solution of one of the most haunting questions raised by the Christian faith–what is to happen to those who lived before Jesus Christ and to those to whom the gospel never came? There can be no salvation without repentance but how can repentance come to those who have never been confronted with the love and holiness of God? If there is no other name by which men may be saved, what is to happen to those who never heard it? This is the point that Justin Martyr fastened on long ago: “The Lord, the Holy God of Israel, remembered his dead, those sleeping in the earth, and came down to them to tell them the good news of salvation.” The doctrine of the descent into Hades conserves the precious truth that no man who ever lived is left without a sight of Christ and without the offer of the salvation of God.
Many in repeating the creed have found the phrase “He descended into hell” either meaningless or bewildering, and have tacitly agreed to set it on one side and forget it. It may well be that we ought to think of this as a picture painted in terms of poetry rather than a doctrine stated in terms of theology. But it contains these three great truths–that Jesus Christ not only tasted death but drained the cup of death, that the triumph of Christ is universal and that there is no corner of the universe into which the grace of God has not reached.
THE APPROACHING END ( 1Pe 4:7 a) 4:7a The end of all things is near.
Here is a note which is struck consistently all through the New Testament. It is the summons of Paul that it is time to wake out of sleep, for the night is far spent and the day is at hand ( Rom 13:12). “The Lord is at hand,” he writes to the Philippians ( Php_4:5 ). “The coming of the Lord is at hand,” writes James ( Jas 5:8). John says that the days in which his people are living are the last hour ( 1Jn 2:18). “The time is near,” says the John of the Revelation, and he hears the Risen Christ testify: “Surely I am coming soon” ( Rev 1:3; Rev 22:20).
There are many for whom all such passages are problems, for, if they are taken literally, the New Testament writers were mistaken; nineteen hundred years have passed and the end is not yet come. There are four ways of looking at them.
(i) We may hold that the New Testament writers were in fact mistaken. They looked for the return of Christ and the end of the world in their own day and generation; and these events did not take place. The curious thing is that the Christian Church allowed these words to stand although it would not have been difficult quietly to excise them from the New Testament documents. It was not until late in the second century that the New Testament began to be fixed in the form in which we have it today; and yet statements such as these became unquestioned parts of it. The clear conclusion is that the people of the early church still believed these words to be true.
(ii) There is a strong line of New Testament thought which, in effect, holds that the end has come. The consummation of history was the coming of Jesus Christ. In him time was invaded by eternity. In him God entered into the human situation. In him the prophecies were all fulfilled. In him the end has come. Paul speaks of himself and his people as those on whom the ends of the ages have come ( 1Co 10:11). Peter in his first sermon speaks of Joel’s prophecy of the outpouring of the Spirit and of all that should happen in the last days, and then says that at that very time men were actually living in those last days ( Act 2:16-21).
If we accept that, it means that in Jesus Christ the end of history has come. The battle has been won; there remain only skirmishes with the last remnants of opposition. It means that at this very moment we are living in the “end time,” in what someone has called “the epilogue to history.” That is a very common point of view; but the trouble is that it flies in the face of facts. Evil is as rampant as ever; the world is still far from having accepted Christ as King. It may be the “end time,” but the dawn seems as far distant as ever it was.
(iii) It may be that we have to interpret near in the light of history’s being a process of almost unimaginable length. It has been put this way. Suppose all time to be represented by a column the height of Cleopatra’s Needle with a single postage stamp on top, then the length of recorded history is represented by the thickness of the postage stamp and the unrecorded history which went before it by the height of the column. When we think of time in terms like that near becomes an entirely relative word. The Psalmist was literally right when he said that in God’s sight a thousand years were just like a watch in the night ( Psa 90:4). In that case near can cover centuries and still be correctly used. But it is quite certain that the Biblical writers did not take near in that sense, for they had no conception of history in terms like that.
(iv) The simple fact is that behind this there is one inescapable and most personal truth. For everyone of us the time is near. The one thing which can be said of every man is that he will die. For every one of us the Lord is at hand. We cannot tell the day and the hour when we shall go to meet him; and, therefore, all life is lived in the shadow of eternity.
“The end of all things is near,” said Peter. The early thinkers may have been wrong if they thought that the end of the world was round the corner, but they have left us with the warning that for every one of us personally the end is near; and that warning is as valid today as ever it was.
THE LIFE LIVED IN THE SHADOW OF ETERNITY ( 1Pe 4:7 b-8) 4:7b-8 Be, therefore, steady and sober in mind so that you will really be able to pray as you ought. Above all cherish for each other a love that is constant and intense, because love hides a multitude of sins.
When a man realizes the nearness of Jesus Christ, he is bound to commit himself to a certain kind of life. In view of that nearness Peter makes four demands.
(i) He says that we must be steady in mind. We might render it: “Preserve your sanity.” The verb Peter uses is sophronein ( G4994) ; connected with that verb is the noun sophrosune ( G4997) , which the Greeks derived from the verb sozein ( G4982) , to keep safe, and the noun phronesis ( G5428) , the mind. Sophrosune ( G4997) is the wisdom which characterizes a man who is preeminently sane; and sophronein ( G4993) means to preserve one’s sanity. The great characteristic of sanity is that it sees things in their proper proportions; it sees what things are important and what are not; it is not swept away by sudden and transitory enthusiasms; it is prone neither to unbalanced fanaticism nor to unrealizing indifference. It is only when we see the affairs of earth in the light of eternity that we see them in their proper proportions; it is when God is given his proper place that everything takes its proper place.
(ii) He says that we must be sober in mind. We might render it: “Preserve your sobriety.” The verb Peter uses is nephein ( G3525) which originally meant to be sober in contradistinction to being drunk and then came to mean to act soberly and sensibly. This does not mean that the Christian is to be lost in a gloomy joylessness; but it does mean that his approach to life must not be frivolous and irresponsible. To take things seriously is to be aware of their real importance and to be ever mindful of their consequences in time and in eternity. It is to approach life, not as a jest, but as a serious matter for which we are answerable.
(iii) He says that we must do this in order to pray as we ought. We might render it: “Preserve your prayer life.” When a man’s mind is unbalanced and his approach to life is frivolous and irresponsible, he cannot pray as he ought. We learn to pray only when we take life so wisely and so seriously that we begin to say in all things: “Thy will be done.” The first necessity of prayer is the earnest desire to discover the will of God for ourselves.
(iv) He says that we must cherish for each other a love that is constant and intense. We might render it: “Preserve your love.” The word Peter uses to describe this love is ektenes ( G1618) which has two meanings, both of which we have included in the translation. It means outstretching in the sense of consistent; our love must be the love that never fails. It also means stretching out as a runner stretches out. As C. E. B. Cranfield reminds us it describes a horse at full gallop and denotes “the taut muscle of strenuous and sustained effort, as of an athlete.” Our love must be energetic. Here is a fundamental Christian truth. Christian love is not an easy, sentimental reaction. It demands everything a man has of mental and spiritual energy. It means loving the unlovely and the unlovable; it means loving in spite of insult and injury; it means loving when love is not returned. Bengel translates ektenes ( G1618) by the Latin vehemens, vehement. Christian love is the love which never fails and into which every atom of man’s strength is directed.
The Christian, in the light of eternity, must preserve his sanity, preserve his sobriety, preserve his prayers and preserve his love.
THE POWER OF LOVE ( 1Pe 4:7 b-8 continued) “Love,” says Peter, “hides a multitude of sins.” There are three things which this saying may mean; and it is not necessary that we should choose between them, for they are all there.
(i) It may mean that our love can overlook many sins. “Love covers all offences,” says the writer of the Proverbs ( Pro 10:12). If we love a person, it is easy to forgive. It is not that love is blind, but that it loves a person just as he is. Love makes patience easy. It is much easier to be patient with our own children than with the children of strangers. If we really love our fellow-men, we can accept their faults, and bear with their foolishness, and even endure their unkindness. Love indeed can cover a multitude of sins.
(ii) It may mean that, if we love others, God will overlook a multitude of sins in us. In life we meet two kinds of people. We meet those who have no faults at which the finger may be pointed; they are moral, orthodox, and supremely respectable; but they are hard and austere and unable to understand why others make mistakes and fall into sin. We also meet those who have all kinds of faults; but they are kind and sympathetic and they seldom or never condemn. It is the second kind of person to whom the heart more readily warms; and in all reverence we may say that it is so with God. He will forgive much to the man who loves his fellow-men.
(iii) It may mean that God’s love covers the multitude of our sins. That is blessedly and profoundly true. It is the wonder of grace that, sinners as we are, God loves us; that is why he sent his Son.
CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY ( 1Pe 4:9-10 ) 4:9-10 Be hospitable to one another and never grudge it. As each has received a gift from God, so let all use such gifts in the service of one another, like good stewards of the grace of God.
Peter’s mind is dominated in this section by the conviction that the end of all things is near. It is of the greatest interest and significance to note that he does not use that conviction to urge men to withdraw from the world and to enter on a kind of private campaign to save their own souls; he uses it to urge them to go into the world and serve their fellow-men. As Peter sees it, a man will be happy if the end finds him, not living as a hermit, but out in the world serving his fellow-men.
(i) First, Peter urges upon his people the duty of hospitality. Without hospitality the early church could not have existed. The travelling missionaries who spread the good news of the gospel had to find somewhere to stay and there was no place for them to stay except in the homes of Christians. Such inns as there were were impossibly dear, impossibly filthy and notoriously immoral. Thus we find Peter lodging with one Simon a tanner ( Act 10:6), and Paul and his company were to lodge with one Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple ( Act 21:16). Many a nameless one in the early church made Christian missionary work possible by opening the doors of his house and home.
Not only did the missionaries need hospitality; the local churches also needed it. For two hundred years there was no such thing as a church building. The church was compelled to meet in the houses of those who had bigger rooms and were prepared to lend them for the services of the congregation. Thus we read of the church which was in the house of Aquila and Priscilla ( Rom 16:5; 1Co 16:19), and of the church which was in the house of Philemon ( Phm 1:2). Without those who were prepared to open their homes, the early church could not have met for worship at all.
It is little wonder that again and again in the New Testament the duty of hospitality is pressed upon the Christians. The Christian is to be given to hospitality ( Rom 12:13). A bishop is to be given to hospitality ( 1Ti 3:2); the widows of the Church must have lodged strangers ( 1Ti 5:10). The Christian must not forget to entertain strangers and must remember that some who have done so have entertained angels unawares. ( Heb 13:2). The bishop must be a lover of hospitality ( Tit 1:8). And it is ever to be remembered that it was said to those on the right hand: “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me” while the condemnation of those on the left hand was: “I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me” ( Mat 25:35; Mat 25:43).
In the early days the Church depended on the hospitality of its members; and to this day no greater gift can be offered than the welcome of a Christian home to the stranger in a strange place.
(ii) Such gifts as a man has he must place ungrudgingly at the service of the community. This again is a favourite New Testament idea which is expanded by Paul in Rom 12:3-8 and 1Co 12:1-31. The Church needs every gift that a man has. It may be a gift of speaking, of music, of the ability to visit people. It may be a craft or skill which can be used in the practical service of the Church. It may be a house which a man possesses or money which he has inherited. There is no gift which cannot be placed at the service of Christ.
The Christian has to regard himself as a steward of God. In the ancient world the steward was very important. He might be a slave but his master’s goods were in his hands. There were two main kinds of stewards, the dispensator, the dispenser, who was responsible for all the domestic arrangements of the household and laid in and divided out the household supplies; and the vilicus, the bailiff, who was in charge of his master’s estates and acted as landlord to his master’s tenants. The steward knew well that none of the things over which he had control belonged to him; they all belonged to his master. In everything he did he was answerable to his master and always it was his interests he must serve.
The Christian must always be under the conviction that nothing he possesses of material goods or personal qualities is his own; it all belongs to God and he must ever use what he has in the interests of God to whom he is always answerable.
THE SOURCE AND OBJECT OF ALL CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR ( 1Pe 4:11 ) 4:11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as one uttering sayings sent from God. If anyone renders any service, let him do so as one whose service comes from the strength which God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ to whom belong glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
Peter is thinking of the two great activities of the Christian Church, preaching and practical service. The word he uses for sayings is logia ( G3048) . That is a word with a kind of divine background. The heathen used it for the oracles which came to them from their gods; the Christians used it for the words of scripture and the words of Christ. So Peter is saying, “If a man has the duty of preaching, let him preach not as one offering his own opinions or propagating his own prejudices, but as one with a message from God.” It was said of one great preacher: “First he listened to God, and then he spoke to men.” It was said of another that ever and again he paused, “as if listening for a voice.” There lies the secret of preaching power.
Peter goes on to say that if a Christian is engaged in practical service, he must render that service in the strength which God supplies. It is as if he said, “When you are engaged in Christian service, you must not do it as if you were conferring a personal favour or distributing bounty from your own store, but in the consciousness that what you give you first received from God.” Such an attitude preserves the giver from pride and the gift from humiliation.
The aim of everything is that God should be glorified. Preaching is not done to display the preacher but to bring men face to face with God. Service is rendered not to bring prestige to the giver but to turn men’s thoughts to God. E. G. Selwyn reminds us that the motto of the great Benedictine Order of monks is four letters–I-O-G-D–which stand for the Latin words (ut) in omnibus glorificetur Deus (in order that in all things God may be glorified). A new grace and glory would enter the Church, if all church people ceased doing things for themselves and did them for God.
THE INEVITABILITY OF PERSECUTION ( 1Pe 4:12-13 ) 4:12-13 Beloved, do not regard the fiery ordeal through which you are passing and which has happened to you to test you, as something strange, as if some alien experience were happening to you, but rejoice in so far as you share the sufferings of Christ so that you may also rejoice with rapture when his glory shall be revealed.
In the nature of things persecution must have been a much more daunting experience for Gentiles than it was for Jews. The average Gentile had little experience of it; but the Jews have always been the most persecuted people upon earth. Peter was writing to Christians who were Gentiles and he had to try to help them by showing them persecution in its true terms. It is never easy to be a Christian. The Christian life brings its own loneliness, its own unpopularity, its own problems, its own sacrifices and its own persecutions. It is, therefore, well to have certain great principles in our minds.
(i) It is Peter’s view that persecution is inevitable. It is human nature to dislike and to regard with suspicion anyone who is different; the Christian is necessarily different from the man of the world. The particular impact of the Christian difference makes the matter more acute. To the world the Christian brings the standards of Jesus Christ. That is another way of saying that he inevitably is a kind of conscience to any society in which he moves; and many a man would gladly eliminate the troublesome twinges of conscience. The very goodness of Christianity can be an offence to a world in which goodness is regarded as a handicap.
(ii) It is Peter’s view that persecution is a test. It is a test in a double sense. A man’s devotion to a principle can be measured by his willingness to suffer for it; therefore, any kind of persecution is a test of a man’s faith. But it is equally true that it is only the real Christian who will be persecuted. The Christian who compromises with the world will not be persecuted. In a double sense persecution is the test of the reality of a man’s faith.
(iii) Now we come to the uplifting things. Persecution is a sharing in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. When a man has to suffer for his Christianity he is walking the way his Master walked and sharing the Cross his Master carried. This is a favourite New Testament thought. If we suffer with him, we will be glorified with him ( Rom 8:17). It is Paul’s desire to enter into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ ( Php_3:10 ). If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him ( 2Ti 2:12). If we remember that, anything we must suffer for the sake of Christ becomes a privilege and not a penalty.
(iv) Persecution is the way to glory. The Cross is the way to the crown. Jesus Christ is no man’s debtor and his joy and crown await the man who, through thick and thin, remains true to him.
THE BLESSEDNESS OF SUFFERING FOR CHRIST ( 1Pe 4:14-16 ) 4:14-16 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the presence of the glory and the Spirit of God rest upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil-doer or a busybody. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him by this name bring glory to God.
Here Peter says the greatest thing of all. If a man suffers for Christ, the presence of the glory rests upon him. This is a very strange phrase. We think it can mean only one thing. The Jews had the conception of the Shekinah, the luminous glow of the very presence of God. This conception constantly recurs in the Old Testament. “In the morning,” said Moses, “you shall see the glory of the Lord” ( Exo 16:7). “The glory of the Lord settled upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud coverer it six days,” when the law was being delivered to Moses ( Exo 24:16). In the tabernacle God was to meet with Israel and it was to be sanctified with his glory ( Exo 29:43). When the tabernacle was completed, “then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” ( Exo 40:34). When the ark of the covenant was brought into Solomon’s temple, “a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” ( 1Ki 8:10-11). Repeatedly this idea of the Shekinah, the luminous glory of God, occurs in the Old Testament.
It is Peter’s conviction that something of that glow of glory rests on the man who suffers for Christ. When Stephen was on trial for his life and it was certain that he would be condemned to death, to those who looked on him his face was as the face of an angel ( Act 6:15).
Peter goes on to point out that it is as a Christian that a man must suffer and not as an evil-doer. The evils which he singles out are all clear enough until we come to the last. A Christian, Peter says, is not to suffer as an allotriepiskopos ( G244) . The trouble is that there is no other instance of this word in Greek and Peter may well have invented it. It can have three possible meanings, all of which would be relevant. It comes from two words, allotrios ( G245) , belonging to another and episkopos ( G1985) , looking upon or looking into. Therefore, it literally means looking upon, or into, that which belongs to another.
(i) To look on that which is someone else’s might well be to cast covetous eyes upon it. That is how both the Latin Bible and Calvin take this word–to mean that the Christian must not be covetous.
(ii) To look upon that which belongs to another might well mean to be too interested in other people’s affairs and to be a meddling busybody. That is by far the most probable meaning. There are Christians who do an infinite deal of harm with misguided interference and criticism. This would mean that the Christian must never be an interfering busybody. That gives good sense and, we believe, the best sense.
(iii) There is a third possibility. Allotrios ( G245) means that which belongs to someone else; that is to say, that which is foreign to oneself. Along that line allotriepiskopos ( G244) will mean looking upon that which is foreign to oneself. That would mean, of a Christian, entering upon undertakings which do not befit the Christian life. This would mean that a Christian must never interest himself in things which are alien to the life that a Christian should lead.
While all three meanings are possible, we think that the third is the right one.
It is Peter’s injunction that, if a Christian has to suffer for Christ, he must do so in such a way that his suffering brings glory to God and to the name he bears. His life and conduct must be the best argument that he does not deserve the suffering which has come upon him and his attitude to it must commend the name he bears.
ENTRUSTING ALL LIFE TO GOD ( 1Pe 4:17-19 ) 4:17-19 For the time has come for judgment to begin from the household of God. And, if it begins from us, what will be the end of those who disobey the good news which comes from God? And, if the righteous man is scarcely saved, where will the impious man and the sinner appear? So, then, let those who suffer in accordance with the will of God, entrust their souls to him who is a Creator on whom you can rely, and continue to do right.
As Peter saw it, it was all the more necessary for the Christian to do right because judgment was about to begin.
It was to begin with the household of God. Ezekiel hears the voice of God proclaiming judgment upon his people, “Begin at my sanctuary” ( Eze 9:6). Where the privilege has been greatest, there the judgment will be sternest.
If judgment is to fall upon the Church of God, what will be the fate of those who have been utterly disobedient to the invitation and command of God? Peter confirms his appeal with a quotation from Pro 11:31: “If the righteous is requited on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!”
Finally, Peter exhorts his people to continue to do good and, whatever happens to them to entrust their lives to God, the Creator on whom they can rely. The word he uses for to entrust is paratithesthai ( G3908) , which is the technical word for depositing money with a trusted friend. In the ancient days there were no banks and few really safe places in which to deposit money. So, before a man went on a journey, he often left his money in the safe-keeping of a friend. Such a trust was regarded as one of the most sacred things in life. The friend was absolutely bound by all honour and all religion to return the money intact.
Herodotus (6: 86) has a story about such a trust. A certain Milesian came to Sparta, for he had heard of the strict honour of the Spartans, and entrusted his money to a certain Glaucus. He said that in due time his sons would reclaim the money and would bring tokens which would establish their identity beyond doubt. The time passed and the sons came. Glaucus treacherously said that he had no recollection of any money being entrusted to him and said that he wished four months to think about it. The Milesians departed sad and sorry. Glaucus consulted the gods as to what he ought to do, and they warned him that he must return the money. He did so, but before long he died and all his family followed him, and in the time of Herodotus there was not a single member of his family left alive because the gods were angry that he had even contemplated breaking the trust reposed in him. Even to think of evading such a trust was a mortal sin.
If a man entrusts himself to God, God will not fail him. If such a trust is sacred to men, how much more is it sacred to God? This is the very word used by Jesus, when he says “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit” ( Luk 23:46). Jesus unhesitatingly entrusted his life to God, certain that he would not fail him–and so may we. The old advice is still good advice–trust in God and do the right.
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible
4. Christ’s example, also, of holiness to be followed, 1Pe 4:1-6.
1. Christ hath suffered 1Pe 3:18.
Arm yourselves As a soldier called to a warfare.
The same mind The same thought and purpose of suffering innocently and in God’s cause, that Christ manifested.
For Some understand this clause, of the believer’s identification with Christ in his suffering and death, as in Rom 6:7-11, and Gal 2:20. But this is too Pauline for St. Peter’s style of expression; and, besides, the words hardly admit of it. Referred to Christ himself, it states, as a fact, the rest from sin that followed his suffering, and presents a valid reason for the arming, namely, that they, having the same purpose, should likewise have no more to do with sin.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, you arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that you no longer live the rest of your time in the flesh to the desires of men, but to the will of God.’
Peter now specifically applies his words in terms reminiscent of Rom 6:3-4. Inasmuch as Jesus has suffered in the flesh, in other words has died (1Pe 3:18), they too are to arm themselves with the same mind and are to see themselves as dead with Him, for then they will cease from sin. They are to recognise that dead men do not sin. So as those who are dead to the world they are no longer to live the remainder of their lives according to human desires but according to God’s will.
Thus Jesus’ suffering unto death is to be the basis of our future lives. We too must recognise that we have died with Him (Gal 2:20). We too must deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Him (Mat 16:24-26). And furthermore we must suffer and die on it. Then, having been made alive by God, we can live in newness of life. For those who have set their minds on Christ, bringing their minds in subjection to Him (arming their minds – compare Eph 6:10-18), have died to the normal course of human life and its desires, while those who are alive in the spirit seek only the will of God (Rom 7:25). And part of the thought here is that they are to see any future suffering as a part of this process (1Pe 1:7).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Christ’s Suffering In The Flesh Should Arm Them For The Battle Ahead With One Eye On The Coming Judgment And On The Resurrection ( 1Pe 4:1-6 ).
Peter tells us that by being made one with Christ in His sufferings we will have our eyes fixed on the right goal, and will avoid falling back into the old useless ways, because His suffering for us constantly reminds us of the judgment that is coming when all will have to give account. However, for us that judgment is no longer to be feared because through His death and resurrection He has brought us to God. Indeed that was why the Gospel was preached to some who have died so that they might know that while men may have condemned them, God will raise them from the dead.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Application Of The Previous Theme, And Reminder of the Coming Judgment ( 1Pe 4:1-19 ).
Having portrayed the great and all encompassing victory of Jesus Christ through suffering, Peter now applies the ideas directly to his readers. As previously with the world of Noah and the disobedient angels, judgment is hovering on the horizon. Christians are therefore to live in the light both of His sufferings and of the coming judgment. This is first stressed in 1Pe 4:1-6, and then expanded on in 1Pe 4:12-19, while in between we have the call to His people to live as recognising the urgency of the hour.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
They Can Go Forward In Confidence to Face Whatever Comes Knowing That The Victory Over Suffering Has Already Been Won ( 1Pe 3:13 to 1Pe 4:6 ).
Peter now encourages them in the face of opposition. They are not to be afraid when they suffer for righteousness’ sake, but are rather to set apart Christ as holy in their hearts, and ensure that they can give a good answer concerning Him to their adversaries, doing it with a proper attitude (meekness) and in the fear of God. They must however ensure that their own behaviour is right and correct, so that their conscience is clear about all that they do. For it is better to suffer for well-doing rather than for evildoing.
In this they are to remember how Christ suffered too. And why He did so. He suffered for well-doing, for He was suffering for sin, the righteous for the unrighteous that He might bring us to God. And after that He Who was dead was made alive, and proclaimed His victory to those fallen angels still in chains under God’s judgment. Righteousness had triumphed over unrighteousness. Good had triumphed over evil. The Obedient had triumphed over the disobedient. And as a result He was seated at God’s right hand with all angels and heavenly authorities and powers being subjected to Him.
These words serve to confirm that the problems of the church were connected with false gods and idolatry. For here he is combating their fears by assuring them of God’s victory over both. He is reminding them that when supernatural beings had previously interfered in God’s affairs they had been summarily dealt with, while the righteous had been delivered. And the same was true of all that had opposed Christ. Thus in their suffering, resulting from the attitude of those who worshipped false gods, His people could recognise that they were on the winning side, as their baptism, which indicated their right attitude of heart and conscience, confirmed. They were thus, by their suffering, having their part in the final victory. And even if they should die under persecution, they can be sure that they will then be made alive in the spirit along with Him (1Pe 4:6).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Learning to Crucify the Flesh and Take Up Our Cross Daily The underlying statement of 1Pe 4:1-6 is for believers to follow Christ’s example of crucifying the flesh and taking up our cross daily. The opening verse (1Pe 4:1) exhorts us to make the decision to suffer if need be. Our weapon in order to survive this battle is the decision to suffer in the flesh as Christ did and to lay down our lives if necessary. A good example of such devotion is seen in the Islamic war against Israel and the West when young men choose to become suicide bomber, strapping bombs their bodies and blowing themselves up in order to kill those around them. We see this same mindset during World War II when the Japanese soldiers committed many acts of suicide as “kamikaze” pilots crashing their planes in American ships. Such a decision to lay one’s life down for Christ makes him a formidable weapon against the kingdom of Satan. It involves a commitment to devote ones’ entire energies to doing the will of God and denying one’s own needs, regardless of the costs (1Pe 4:2). However, such a lifestyle brings confusion and anger and persecution from the world (1Pe 4:3-5).
This passage in 1Pe 4:1-6 explains that we are to be followers of that which is good in the midst of persecutions. It opens with the statement, “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;” (1Pe 4:1). The statement in 1Pe 4:1 is found as a conclusion to the previous passages on good works (1Pe 2:11 to 1Pe 3:22), which began by saying, “whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works , which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation,” (1Pe 2:12). Thus, the underlying emphasis of 1Pe 2:11 to 1Pe 4:11 is to conduct oneself in a lifestyle of good works before the Gentiles despite persecutions as a testimony of God’s redemptive work in our lives in order that they, too, may believe and obtain this future hope of an eternal inheritance. 1Pe 5:1-9 will exhort us to apply this principle within the Church.
Just as Christ was obedient and submissive to His authority, the Heavenly Father, even unto death, so should we be willing to do the same. Since our obedience will also involve suffering for our faith, we should be willing to suffer to the same degree that Christ suffered. If Christ learned obedience by the things He suffered (Heb 5:8), then we too can only learn obedience by the same divine rule.
Heb 5:8, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;”
It is interesting to note that Peter was the one that most resisted Jesus’ announcement of His pending suffering on Calvary; for at the time he did not understand its significance. Now, in his epistle, Peter makes a great deal of emphasis upon our need to follow Jesus’ example of suffering for righteousness sake. We are to follow His footsteps (1Pe 2:21) by crucifying our flesh daily (1Pe 4:1-6) in order to fulfill in our Christian duties.
1Pe 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;
1Pe 4:1
1Pe 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.
1Pe 4:3 1Pe 4:3
Act 15:20, “But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.”
Act 15:29, “That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.”
Act 21:25, “As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.”
In submission to the church apostles and elders a Jerusalem, Paul delivered these ordinances to the Corinthian church earlier while he lived there. In this epistle, Paul expands upon them:
1Co 11:2, “Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.”
Note also that Jesus told the church in Pergamos in the book of Revelation that these were the two doctrines of Balaam.
Rev 2:14, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication .”
Therefore, the practice of feasting in idolatry and fornication appears to have been a common practice in Asia Minor among the temple worship of the Greeks. We also see in Rom 1:18-32 how idolatry was followed by fornication as God turned mankind over to a reprobate mind. Thus, these two sins are associated with one another throughout the Scriptures.
1Pe 4:6 “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead” – Comments – This is a clear reference to the previous statement in 1Pe 3:18-19 where Jesus preached to those in prison, or hell, as most scholars understand this verse to say.
1Pe 3:18-19, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison ;”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Obedience to Christ Jesus (Illustration of Sermon): Perseverance – The Believer’s Response is to Decide to Walk in Love and Submission with His Fellow Man in Light of This Blessed Hope Once we have been enlightened to our blessed hope of the Heavenly Father (1Pe 1:3-12), and exhorted to choose to sanctify ourselves by growing in maturity through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (1Pe 1:13 to 1Pe 2:10), Peter illustrates what a lifestyle of sanctification looks like as we obey to Jesus Christ with good works by submitting to authority and enduring persecution for righteousness sake (1Pe 2:11 to 1Pe 4:11).
In 1Pe 2:11 to 1Pe 4:11 we are told that our obedience to Christ is based upon our willingness to persevere in the midst of persecutions. Obedience requires some degree of suffering. Paul wrote in Hebrews, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered,” (Heb 5:8). This is why the opening verse of this next section explains that we serve Him by “abstaining from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul,” (1Pe 2:11). The preceding passage (1Pe 2:4-10) explains that we as a people of God have been separated unto a holy calling. Thus, the believer’s next response to this blessed hope of election (1Pe 1:3-12) and exhortation to holiness (1Pe 1:13 to 1Pe 2:10) is to serve Him in obedience. Within the context of 1 Peter our souls are “fully hoping in the grace being brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1Pe 1:13), so that our minds are to be focused upon our eternal inheritance, rather than worldly lusts. These fleshly lusts mentioned in 1Pe 2:11 pull our focus away from Heaven and turns our hope towards the cares of this world.
Having exhorted us into a lifestyle of holiness by explaining that we are elected as a chosen people through the purchased blood of Christ (1Pe 1:13 to 1Pe 2:10), Peter then gives us practical advice on conducting ourselves in the fear of God and love towards mankind (1Pe 2:11 to 1Pe 4:11). In the previous passage of 1Pe 2:4-10 Peter has drawn a picture of what a mature Church looks like when the believers corporately grow into spiritual maturity through the Word of God, which he exhorts in 1Pe 2:1-3. Peter will then give practical examples of our “spiritual sacrifices” in the lengthy passage of submission. We are to do good works as a testimony to the Gentiles of our blessed hope (1Pe 2:11-12) by submitting to those in authority over us: all believers to government (1Pe 2:13-17), slaves to their masters (1Pe 2:18-25), wives to husbands (1Pe 3:1-6), and husbands honoring wives (1Pe 3:7). In summary it is a walk of love from the heart (1Pe 3:8-12). However, this love walk will mean persecution and suffering, but Christ serves as our example of suffering for righteousness sake (1Pe 3:13 to 1Pe 4:11). Our choice to submit to those in authority is actually our way of entrusting ourselves into the hands of a faithful creator (1Pe 4:19).
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Introductory Remarks 1Pe 2:11-12
2. Submission to Authority Within Society 1Pe 2:13 to 1Pe 3:12
3. Walking in Love 1Pe 3:13-22
4. Crucifying the Flesh 1Pe 4:1-6
5. Exhortation to Watch and Pray 1Pe 4:7-11
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Admonitions in View of the Second Coming of Christ.
Ceasing from sin:
v. 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,
v. 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.
v. 3. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries;
v. 4. wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you;
v. 5. who shall give account to Him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
v. 6. For this cause was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. The apostle here resumes the thought connection which he had touched upon in chap. 3:18, that of the sufferings of Christ and its lessons: Christ, then, having suffered for us in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same disposition of mind; for he that suffers in the flesh has desisted from sin, When Christ assumed true human nature, when He became a man for our sakes, He was obliged to suffer a great deal in this flesh, not only during His ministry, but especially during His last great Passion. The idea of Christ’s acting as our Substitute is brought out also in this case, in order to give additional force to the admonition. We should arm, or shield, ourselves with the same disposition or state of mind, with the same intention and purpose. For he that suffers in the flesh, he that willingly takes upon himself the cross which is the lot of all true Christians in the world, thereby has desisted from sin. If Christians take their cross upon themselves and follow Christ, they have chosen the best way of combating and overcoming sin; in fact, they have left sin behind as a ruling power.
The purpose of being armed with the mind of Christ as with a weapon is now stated by the apostle: In order no longer to spend the remaining part of his life to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. If God inflicts a chastisement, sends some suffering, this will indeed be disagreeable, full of bitterness, to the flesh. But God is acting like a wise physician; for He thereby protects the Christians themselves. Their life, which would ordinarily have been spent in serving the lusts and desires in which the unbelievers delight, is now devoted to battling against the temptations to sin and in fulfilling the will of God. They give up the delights of this short life, but they gain the bliss of everlasting salvation as God’s gift of mercy.
This thought is now brought out with all the force of a strong contrast: For the time now gone past suffices that you worked the will of the heathen, conducting yourselves in acts of licentiousness, lusts, carousings, revelings, banquetings, and unlawful, idolatrous acts, in which they are taken aback that you do not run with them into the same overflowing of profligacy, blaspheming This is a picture of the life of unbelievers when they give way to their natural desires and passions and live in every form of sensual sin, as most of the heathen Christians had done before their conversion. Peter reminds his readers that their behavior in their unconverted state certainly was sufficient and more than sufficient to pay the debt which they may have thought they were owing to the flesh. Note the irony in the words. A few of the sins of the flesh are now enumerated. They conducted themselves, they spent their life in acts of licentiousness, or sensuality, in giving free rein to all their lusts and desires. They were wine-bibbers, using intoxicating liquors to excess; they held night revels, with banquets where eating as well as drinking was carried far beyond the limits of decency; they became guilty of all the unlawful, heathen, idolatrous acts and practices whereby the proper honor was taken away from the living God. Of these acts of sensuality, of carnal mindedness, of godlessness, the Christians to whom this letter was addressed were now heartily ashamed, and they were straining every nerve to spend the rest of their lives in such works as were well-pleasing to God. This change of attitude, of course, was a surprise to the heathen, it took them aback in a very unpleasant way. That these former boon companions of theirs should now no longer be willing to accompany them to the places where licentiousness and profligacy went beyond all bounds, that they considered an insult. That the Christians should now consider their former dissolute life with abhorrence and should do everything in their power to forget the indecencies of that period of their life, put them into such a fury of rage that they set out to curse and blaspheme the Christians. Also herein history repeats itself, as many a believer that was converted in adult life will be able to testify.
The apostle wants the Christians not to be intimidated or otherwise influenced by the attitude of the unbelievers: They shall have to give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. A time is coming, and that very soon, when the unbelievers will think of their blasphemous behavior with a regret which will be too late. For the Lord is prepared even now to return for the judging of the living and the dead, for the final Judgment; and from His sentence there will be no appeal. These heathen who now abuse the Christians will then have to answer for their hatred and persecution of the Christians, and since they cannot give an account that will satisfy the holiness and justice of God, their portion will be that of eternal damnation. This fact is a consolation to all believers that are subjected to such maledictions more or less.
For the same reason the apostle adds: For to this end was the Gospel preached also to them that are (now) dead, that they might be judged in the flesh indeed after the manner of men, but might live in the spirit after the manner of God. This statement has no connection with the fact given in chap. 3:19, but belongs into this connection. To certain people that are now dead the Gospel was preached during their life, they became partakers of its wonderful blessings, in order that they, although subject to the general curse of death according to their mortal body, yet might live in the spirit, so far as their soul was concerned, and that after the manner of God, that is, in a spiritual, divine, glorified existence, until the day when God would reunite their bodies with their souls. Thus the purpose of the preaching of the Gospel was realized in the case of those that died in the Lord. The connection of thought, then, is this: While death does not remove the blasphemer from the final Judgment and condemnation, it confirms the hope of the Christians that their souls, which are safe in the hands of God, will be reunited with their bodies on the last day and enjoy everlasting salvation and glory in the presence of God.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Expositions
1Pe 4:1
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh. St. Peter returns, after the digression of 1Pe 3:19-22, to the great subject of Christ’s example. The words “for us” are omitted in some ancient manuscripts; they express a great truth already dwelt upon in 1Pe 2:1-25. and 3. Here the apostle is insisting upon the example of Christ, not on the atoning efficacy of his death. Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. The word rendered “mind” () is more exactly “thought” (comp. Heb 4:12, the only other place where it occurs in the New Testament); but it certainly has sometimes the force of “intention, resolve.” The Christian must be like his Mustier; he must arm himself with the great thought, the holy resolve, which was in the mind of Christthe thought that suffering borne in faith frees us from the power of sin, the resolve to suffer patiently according to the will of God. That thought, which can be made our own only by faith, is the Christian’s shield; we are to arm ourselves with it against the assaults of the evil one (comp. Rom 13:12; 2Co 10:4; Eph 6:11). For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. The thought is that of Rom 6:6-11. Some translate the conjunction , “that,” and understand it as giving the content of the : “Arm yourselves with the thought that,” etc.; but this does not give so good a sense, and would seem to require rather than “ this thought,” rather than “the same thought.” Some, again, understand this clause of Christ; but this seems a mistake. The apostle spoke first of the Master; now he turns to the disciple. Take, he says, for your amour the thoughts which filled the sacred heart of Christthe thought that suffering in the flesh is not, as the world counts it, an unmixed evil, but often a deep blessing; for, or because, he that suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. If, when we are called to suffer, we offer up our sufferings to Christ who suffered for us, and unite our sufferings with his by faith in him, then those sufferings, thus sanctified, destroy the power of sin, and make us cease from sin (comp. Rom 6:10).
1Pe 4:2
That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh. On the whole, it seems better to connect this clause with the imperative: “Arm yourselves with the same mind, that ye no longer should live the rest of your time;” rather than with the clause immediately preceding: “He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live,” etc.; though both connections give a good sense. The Greek word for “live” () occurs only here in the New Testament. Bengel says, “Aptum verbum, non die fur de brutis.’ “In the flesh “here means simply “in the body,” in this mortal life. “The rest of your time” suggests the solemn thought of the shortness of our earthly pilgrimage: bye for eternity. To the lusts of men, but to the will of God. The datives are normal; they express the pattern or rule according to which our life ought to be fashioned. God’s will is our sanctification (1Th 4:3). That will is ever the same, a fixed, unchanging rule; the lusts of men are shifting, uncertain, restless.
1Pe 4:3
For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles; rather, as in the Revised Version, the time past may suffice. The words, “of our life” and “us,” are not found in the best manuscripts. St. Peter could not include himself among those who wrought the will of the Gentiles. The Greek word for “will” here is, according to the best manuscripts, ; in 1Pe 4:2 “the will of God” is . The general distinction is that implies choice and purpose, merely inclination (compare, in the Greek, Php 1:13, Php 1:14). The change of word seems to point to such a distinction here. God’s will is a fixed, holy purpose; the will, or rather wish, of the Gentiles was uncertain inclination, turned this way or that way by changeful lusts. The perfect infinitive, “to have wrought,” implies that that part of life ought to be regarded as a thing wholly past and gone. The whole sentence has a tone of solemn irony. “Fastidium peccati apud resipiscentes” (Bengel); comp. Rom 6:21. St. Peter is here addressing Gentile Christians. Fronmller’s objection is peculiar: “Suppose that the readers of Peter’s Epistle had formerly been heathens, his reproaching them with having formerly done the will of the Gentiles would surely be singular.” They had done the will of the Gentiles; they were now, as Christians, to do the will of God. When we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries; better, as in the Revised Version, and to have walked. There is no pronoun. Lusts are the hidden sins of unclean thought, which lead to outbreaks of lasciviousness. The Greek word for “revellings” () is one often used of drunken youths parading the streets, or of festal processions in honor of Bacchus. The word translated “banquetings” means rather “drinking-bouts.” The word for “abominable” is , unlawful, nefarious, contrary to the eternal principles of the Divine Law; “quibus sanctissimum Dei jus violatur” (Bengel). St. Peter is probably referring, not only to the sin of idolatry in itself, but also to the many licentious practices connected with it. After the persecution of Nero, in which St. Peter perished, Christianity was regarded by the state as a religio illicita. Christianity was condemned by the law of Rome; idolatry is opposed to the eternal Law of God. This verse could not have been addressed to Hebrew Christians.
1Pe 4:4
Wherein they think it strange. Wherein, in which course of life, in the fact that the Christians once lived like the Gentiles, but now are so wholly changed. The word means commonly to be a guest, to live as a stranger in another’s house (Act 10:6, Act 10:18; Act 21:16); here it means to be astonished, as at some strange sight, as such guests would no doubt sometimes be. That ye run not with them to the same excess of riot. The Greek words are very strong, “while ye run not with them,” as if the Gentiles were running greedily in troops to riot and ruin. The word for “excess” () is found here only in the New Testament; it means” an overflowing;” the rendering sentina (“a sewer” or “cesspool”) is doubtful. The word rendered “riot” () occurs also in Eph 5:18 and Tit 1:6, and is used in the adverbial form in describing the recklessness of the prodigal son (Luk 15:13). It means that lost state in which a man is given up to self-indulgence, and saves neither reputation, earthly position, nor his immortal soul. Speaking evil of you; better, perhaps, translated literally, blaspheming. The words “of you” are not in the original; they who revile Christians for well-doing are blasphemers, they speak really against God.
1Pe 4:5
Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. The judgment is at hand; the Judge standeth before the door; all men, quick and dead alike, must give account to him. It is better to suffer now for well-doing than then for evil-doing. Men call you to give account now (1Pe 3:15); they themselves must give account to God.
1Pe 4:6
For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead. The conjunction “for” seems to link this verse closely to 1Pe 4:5, while the (“also” or “even”) gives an emphasis to” them that are dead” ( ). We naturally refer these last words to the of the preceding verse. The apostle seems to be meeting an objection. The Thessalonian Christians feared lest believers who fell asleep before the second advent should lose something of the blessedness of those who should be alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord. On the other hand, some of St. Peter’s readers may, perhaps, have thought that those who had passed away before the gospel times could not be justly judged in the same way as those who then were living. The two classes, the living and the dead, were separated by a great difference: the living had heard the gospel, the dead had not; the living had opportunities and privileges which had not been granted to the dead. But, St. Peter says, the gospel was preached also to the dead; they too heard the glad tidings of salvation ( ). Some have thought that the word “dead“ is used metaphorically for the dead in trespasses and sins. But it seems scarcely possible to give the word a literal sense in 1Pe 4:5 and a metaphorical sense in 1Pe 4:6. Some understand the apostle as meaning that the gospel had been preached to those who then were dead, before their death; but it seems unnatural to assign different times to the verb and the substantive. The aorist directs our thoughts to some definite occasion. The absence of the article ( ) should also be noticed; the words assert that the gospel was preached to dead personsto some that were (lead. These considerations lead us to connect the passage with 1Pe 3:19, 1Pe 3:20. There St. Peter tells us that Christ himself went and preached in the spirit “to the spirits in prison;” then the gospel was preached, the good news of salvation was announced, to some that were dead. The article is absent both here and in 1Pe 3:5 ( ). All men, quick and dead alike, must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; so St. Peter may not have intended to limit the area of the Lord’s preaching in Hades here, as he had done in 1Pe 3:1-22. There he mentioned one section only of the departed; partly because the Deluge furnished a conspicuous example of men who suffered for evil-doing, partly because he regarded it as a striking type of Christian baptism. Here, perhaps, he asserts the general factthe gospel was preached to the dead; perhaps to all the vast population of the underworld, who had passed away before the gospel times. Like the men of Tyre and Sidon, of Sodom and Gomorrah, they had not seen the works or heard the words of Christ during their life on the earth; now they heard from the Lord himself what he had done for the salvation of mankind. Therefore God was ready to judge the quick and the dead, for to both was the gospel preached. That they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. The gospel was preached to the dead for this end ( ), that they might be judged indeed ( ), but nevertheless live ( ). The last clause expresses the end and purpose of the preaching; the former clause, though grammatically dependent upon the conjunction , states a necessity antecedent to the preaching (comp. Rom 6:17, “God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart;” and Rom 8:10, “If Christ be in you, the body indeed is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.” The meaning seems to bethe gospel was preached to the dead, that, though they were judged, yet they might live. They had suffered the judgment of death, the punishment of human sin. Christ had been put to death in the flesh (1Pe 3:18) for the sins of others; the dead had suffered death in the flesh for their own sins. They had died before the manifestation of the Son of God, before the great work of atonement wrought by his death; but that atonement was retrospectivehe “taketh away the sin of the world;“ its saving influences extended even to the realm of the dead. The gospel was preached to the dead, that, though they were judged according to men (that is, after the fashion of men, as all men are judged), yet they might live in the spirit. The verb , “might he judged,” is aorist, as describing a single fact; the verb , “might live,” is present, as describing a continual state. According to God. God is Spirit; and as they that worship him must worship in spirit, so they who believe in him shall live in spirit. The future life is a spiritual life; the resurrection-bodies of the saints will be spiritual bodies, for” flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” But may also mean “according to the will of God” (as in Rom 8:27), according to his gracious purpose, and in that life which he giveth to his chosen, that eternal life which lieth in the knowledge of God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.
1Pe 4:7
But the end of all things is at hand. The mention of the judgment turns St. Peter’s thoughts into another channel. The end is at hand, not only the judgment of persecutors and slanderers, but the end of persecutions and sufferings, the end of our great conflict with sin, the end of our earthly probation: therefore prepare to meet your God. The end is at hand: it hath drawn near. St. Peter probably, like the other apostles, looked for the speedy coming of the Lord. It was not for him, as it is not for us, “to know the times or the seasons” (Act 1:7). It is enough to know that our own time is short. When St. Peter wrote these words, the end of the holy city, the center of the ancient dispensation, was very near at hand; and behind that awful catastrophe lay the incomparably more tremendous judgment, of which the fall of Jerusalem was a figure. That judgment, we know now, was to be separated by a wide interval from the dale of St. Peter’s Epistle. But that interval is measured, in the prophetic outlook, not by months and years. We are now living in “the last times” (1Ti 4:1; 1Jn 2:18). The coming of our Lord was the hennaing of the last period in the development of God’s dealings with mankind; there is no further dispensation to be looked for. “Not only is there nothing mere between the Christian’s present state of salvation and the end, but the former is itself already the end, i.e. the beginning of the end” (Schott, quoted by Huther). Be ye therefore sober; rather, self-restrained, calm, thoughtful. The thought of the nearness of the end should not lead to excitement and neglect of common duties, as it did in the case of the Thessalonian Christians, and again at the approach of the thousandth year of our era. And watch unto prayer; rather, be sober unto prayers. The word translated “watch” in the Authorized Version is not that which we read in our Lord’s exhortation to “watch and pray.” The word used here () rather points to temperance, abstinence from strong drinks, though it suggests also that wariness and cool thoughtfulness which are destroyed by excess. The Christian must be self-restrained and sober, and that with a view to perseverance in prayer. The aorist imperatives, perhaps, imply that St. Peter’s readers needed to be stirred up (2Pe 1:13; 2Pe 3:1), to be aroused from that indifference into which men are so apt to fall. The exhortation to persevere in watchfulness would be expressed by the present.
1Pe 4:8
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves; more literally, before all things, having your love towards one another intense. The existence of charity is taken for granted. Christians must love one another; love is the very badge of their profession. The apostle urges his readers to keep that love intense, and that before all things; for charity is the first of Christian graces. (On the word “intense” (), see note on 1Pe 1:22.) For charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Read and translate, with the Revised Version, for love covereth a multitude of sins. If St. Peter is directly quoting Pro 10:12, he is not using the Septuagint, as he commonly does, but translating from the Hebrew. The Septuagint rendering is quite different, . But it may be that the words had become proverbial. We find them also in Jas 5:20, “He which converteth the sinner shall hide a multitude of sins.” St. James means that he will obtain God’s forgiveness for the converted sinner; but in Pro 10:12 the meaning (as is plain from the context) is that love covers the sins of others; does not stir up strifes, as hatred does, but promotes concord by concealing and forgiving sins. This is probably St. Peter’s meaning here: “Take care that your charity is intense, for only thus can you forgive as you are bidden to forgive, as you hope to be forgiven.” Perhaps he was thinking of the “seventy times seven,” to which the Lord had told him that forgiveness was to extend. But his words may well be understood as implying more than this. Love shown in forgiving others will win forgiveness for yourselves: “Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” Love manifested in converting others will cover their sins, and obtain God’s forgiveness for them. In the deepest sense, it is only the love of Christ energizing in his atoning work which can cover sin; but true charity, Christian love, flows from that holiest love. “Love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” Therefore in some sense Christian love, flowing from the love of Christ, and bringing the Christian very near to Christ, covers sins; for it keeps the Christian close to the cross, within the immediate sphere of the blessed influences of the atonement, so that he becomes a center of grace, a light kindled from the true Light, a well of living waters fed by the one fountain which is opened for sin and for uncleanness. The mutual love of Christians, their kindly words and deeds, check the work of sin; their prayers, their intercessions, ,call down the forgiveness of God. Therefore, in the view of the approaching end, charity is before all things precious for our own souls and for the souls of others.
1Pe 4:9
Use hospitality one to another; literally, being hospitable (comp. Rom 12:13; 1Ti 3:2; Heb 13:2; 3Jn 1:5). Hospitality must have been a necessary, and often a costly, duty in the early ages of the Church. There was no public provision for the poor. Christians traveling from place to place would find no suitable shelter except in the houses of Christians. They would be obliged to avoid the public houses of entertainment, where they would be exposed often to danger, always to temptation; only the private houses of Christians would be safe for them. Hence the use of the “letters of commendation,” mentioned by St. Paul (2Co 3:1). Those who brought such letters were to be received in Christian homes. The well-known ‘Teaching of the Twelve Apostles’ speaks of this right of hospitality, and gives cautions against its abuse. Tim apostle is not speaking of ordinary social gatherings; they have their place and their utility in the Christian life, but they do not, as a rule, afford scope for the higher self-denials of Christian charity (comp. Luk 14:12, Luk 14:13). Without grudging. Such hospitality would be always costly, often inconvenient, sometimes attended with danger, as in the case of the first British martyr; but it was to be without murmuring. Murmuring would take from the hospitality all its beauty; it should be offered as a gift of love, and Christian love can never murmur.
1Pe 4:10
As every man hath received the gift; rather, according as each received a gift. The aorist , “received,” seems to point to a definite time, as baptism, or the laying on of hands (comp. Act 8:17; Act 19:6; 1Ti 4:14). For the gift (), comp. Rom 12:6; 1Co 12:4, “There are diversities of gifts.” Even so minister the same one to another; literally, ministering it towards one another. The gifts of grace, whatever they may be, are talents entrusted to individual Christians for the good of the whole Church; those who have them must use them to minister to the wants of others. As good stewards of the manifold grace of God. We seem to see here a reference to the parable of the talents (comp. also 1Co 4:1; Tit 1:7). Christians must be “good stewards ( ).“ There should be not only exactness, but also grace and beauty in their stewardshipthe beauty which belongs to holy love, and flows from the imitation of him who is “the good Shepherd ( ).”;;The gifts () are the manifestations of the grace () of God; that grace from which all gifts issue is called manifold (), because of the diversities of its gifts, the variety of its manifestations.
1Pe 4:11
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. St. Peter proceeds to give examples of the proper use of gifts. One of those gifts is utterance. The apostle means all Christian utterance, whether public in the Church, or private in Christian conversation or ministrations to the sick. The second clause may be also rendered, as in the Revised Version, “speaking as it were oracles of God.” It is more natural to supply the participle” speaking” than “let him speak,” after the analogy of (“ministering”) in 1Pe 4:10. For the word , oracles, see Act 7:38; Rom 3:2; also Heb 5:12, in which last place the Scriptures of the New Testament seem to be intended. The apostle’s meaning may be either that the Christian teacher was to speak as do the oracles of God, that is, the Scriptures, or (and the absence of the article rather favors this view) that he was so to yield himself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that his teaching should be the teaching of God; he was to seek no praise or reward for himself, but only the glory of God. Those who with single-hearted zeal seek God’s glory do speak as it were oracles of God, for he speaketh by them. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth. Again it is better to supply the participle “ministering.” Whatever a man’s gifts may be, he must minister them for the good of the whole Church (see Heb 5:9; also Rom 12:1-21. S; 1Co 12:28). And this he must do as of the strength which God supplieth; the strength is not hisGod giveth it. The verb , rendered “giveth,” is used in classical Greek first of supplying the expenses of a chorus, then of liberal giving generally; it occurs in 2Co 9:10. The compound, , is more common; St. Peter has it in the Second Epistle (1. 5, 11). That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ. The glory of God should be the one end of all Christian work. The Lord himself had said so in the sermon on the mount, in words doubtless well remembered by the apostle. To whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen; rather, as in the Revised Version, whose is the glory and dominion for the ages of ages. It is thought by some that St. Peter is here quoting from some ancient form of prayer; the use of the “Amen,” and the resemblance to Rev 1:6 and Rev 5:13, seem to favor this supposition. It is uncertain whether this doxology is addressed to God the Father or to the Lord Jesus Christ; the order of the words is in favor of the latter view, and the doxology closely resembles that in Rev 1:6.
1Pe 4:12
Beloved, thank it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; literally, be not astonished at the burning among you, which is coming to you for a trial, as though a strange thing were happening to you. St. Peter returns to the sufferings of his readers. The address, “beloved,” as in 1Pe 2:11, shows the depth of his sympathy with them. He resumes the thought of 1Pe 1:7; the persecution is a burning, a fiery furnace, which is being kindled among them for a trial, to try the strength of their faith. The present participles imply that the persecution was already beginning; the word , a burning (see Rev 18:9, Rev 18:18), shows the severity. St. Peter tells them its meaning: it was to prove them; it would turn to their good. Persecution was not to be regarded as a strange thing. The Lord had foretold its coming. St. Paul, in his first visit to Asia Minor, had warned them that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (On the word , see note on 1Pe 1:4.) The thing was not strange; they were not to count it as strange; they must learn, so to speak, to acclimatize themselves to it; it would brace their energies and strengthen their faith.
1Pe 4:13
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings. St. Peter speaks in stronger language; he repeats the Lord’s words in Mat 5:12. Christians should learn to rejoice in persecution; they must rejoice in so far as, in proportion as (), they are partakers of Christ’s sufferings (see 2Co 9:10; Php 3:10; Heb 13:13). Suffering meekly borne draws the Christian nearer to Christ, lifts him, as on a cross, nearer to the crucified Lord; but this it does only when he looks to Jesus in his suffering, when the eye of faith is fixed upon the cross of Christ. Then faith unites the sufferings of the disciple with the sufferings of his Lord; he is made a partaker of Christ’s sufferings; and so far as suffering has that blessed result, in such measure he must rejoice in his sufferings. That, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy; literally, that in the revelation of Ms glory also ye may rejoice exulting. The word for “exulting,” , corresponds with that used in 1Pe 1:6 and in Mat 5:12 ( ). Joy in suffering now is the earnest of the great joy of the redeemed at the revelation of that glory which they now see through a glass darkly.
1Pe 4:14
If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ, happy are ye; rather, if ye are reviled in the -Name of Christ, blessed are ye. There is, again, a manifest quotation of our Lord’s words in Mat 5:11. The conjunction “if” does not imply any doubt: the words mean “when ye are reviled.” For “in the Name of Christ,” camp. Mar 9:41, “Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my Name, because ye belong to Christ.” So here the meaning is, “When ye are reviled because ye belong to Christ, because ye bear his Name, because ye are Christians” (camp, Act 5:41). For the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. The form of the sentence in the Greek is unusual. Some regard the first clause, , as a periphrasis for , and translate, “For glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you.” But there is no other instance of such a periphrasis in the New Testament; it is better to supply . Men revile them, but God glorifieth them. The Spirit of glory, the Spirit which hath the glorious attributes of God, the Spirit which proceedeth from the Father who dwelleth in the glory, in the Shechinah,that Spirit resteth upon them, and sheds on them the glory of holy suffering, the glory which hung around the cross of Christ. Two of the most ancient manuscripts, with some others, insert the words , “the Spirit of glory, and of power, and of God.” The Spirit is power from on high (Luk 24:49). (For “resteth,” comp. Isa 11:2.) with the accusative suggests the thought of the Spirit descending upon them and resting there (comp. Joh 1:32, Joh 1:33). The Spirit abides upon those who patiently suffer for Christ. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. These words are not found in the most ancient manuscripts, and are probably a gloss, lint a true one. Those who reviled the suffering Christians really blasphemed the Holy Spirit of God, by whom they were strengthened; the Holy Spirit was glorified by their patient endurance.
1Pe 4:15
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer; literally, for let none of you, etc. They are blessed who suffer in the Name of Christ, because they belong to Christ: for it is not the suffering which brings the blessedness, but the cause, the faith and patience with which the suffering is borne. The word for “evil-doer,” , is used by St. Peter in two other places (1Pe 2:12 and 1Pe 2:14). Christians were spoken against as evil-doers; they must be very careful to preserve their purity, and to suffer, if need be, not for evil-doing, but for well-doing (1Pe 3:17). Or as a busybody in other men’s matters. This clause represents one Greek word, ; it means an , ill-specter, overseer (“bishop” is the modern form of the word), of other men’s mattersof things that do not concern him. St. Peter uses the word only once (1Pe 2:25), where he describes Christ as the Bishop of our souls. It cannot be taken here in its ecclesiastical sense, “let no man suffer as a bishop in matters which do not concern him; but if as a Christian (bishop), let him not be ashamed.” The Jews were often accused of constituting themselves judges and meddling in other men’s matters; it may be that the consciousness of spiritual knowledge and high spiritual dignity exposed Christians to the same temptation. Hilgenfeld sees here an allusion to Trajan’s laws against informers, and uses it as an argument for his theory of the late date of this Epistle.
1Pe 4:16
Yet if any man suffer as a Christian. The word “Christian” occurs only three times in the New Testamenttwice in the Acts of the Apostles (Act 11:26; Act 26:28), and here. “The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” They were originally described amongst themselves as “the disciples,” “the brethren,” “the believers,” “the elect,” or” the saints;” by the Jews they were called “the Nazarenes” (Act 24:5), as still in Mohammedan countries. The name was probably invented by the heathen, and used at first as a term of derision; there is something of scorn in Agrippa’s use of it. It did not at once become common among the disciples of the Lord. St. Peter (who preached at Antioch (Gal 2:11), and is said to have been Bishop of Antioch) is the only sacred writer who adopts it instead of the older names, and that only ones, and in connection with threatened persecution. St. James may possibly allude to it in Jas 2:7. But it was not commonly used among’ believers till after New Testament times. Then they began to discern its admirable suitableness. It reminded them that the center of their religion was not a system of doctrines, but a Person, and that Person the Messiah, the Anointed of God. The Hebrew origin of the word, the Greek dress, the Latin termination, seemed to point, like the threefold inscription on the cross, to the universality of Christ’s religion to its empire, first over all the civilized nations, and through them, by continually increasing triumphs, over the whole world. It reminded them that they too were anointed, that they had an unction from the Holy One. Its very corruption through heathen ignorance, Christian from , good (the Sinaitic Manuscript has in this place) had its lessonit spoke of sweetness and of goodness. See the oft-quoted passage from Tertullian: “Sed quum et perperam Chres-tiani nuncupamur a vobis (nam nec nominis certa est notitia penes yes) de suavitate et benignitate compositum est.” Let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. The best-supported reading is . This may be understood as an idiom, in the same sense as the reading of the Authorized Version; but it is better to translate it literally, in this name, i.e. either the name of Christ, or (more probably, perhaps) that of Christian. The heathen blasphemed that worthy Name; suffering Christians must not be ashamed of it, but, as the holy martyrs did, utter their “Christianus sum” with inward peace and thanksgiving, glorifying God that he had given them grace to bear that honored Name and to suffer for Christ. Bengel says here, “Poterat Petrus dicere, honori sibi ducat: sed honorem Dee resignandum esse docet.”
1Pe 4:17
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. The house of God is the Church (see 1Ti 3:15; 1Co 3:16; and 1Pe 2:5). The judgment must begin at the sanctuary (Eze 9:6; see also Jer 25:15-29). The beginning of judgment is the persecution of the Christians, as our Lord had taught (Mat 24:8, Mat 24:9, and following verses); but that judgment is not unto condemnation: “When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1Co 11:32); it is the fiery trial, “which is much more precious than of gold that perisheth,” the refining fire of affliction. And if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? Compare the passage in Jeremiah already referred to: “Behold, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my Name, and should ye be utterly unpunished?” Compare also our Lord’s question, “If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” Gerhard (quoted by Huther) rightly remarks,” Exaggeratio est in interrogatione.” The question suggests answers too awful for words.
1Pe 4:18
And if the righteous scarcely be saved. St. Peter is quoting the Septuagint Version of Pro 11:31. That version departs considerably from the Hebrew, which is accurately represented by the Authorized Version, “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more the wicked and the sinner.” Probably the word rendered” recompensed,” which is neutral in its meaning, is best understood here, not of the good deeds of the righteous, but of the sin which still cleaves to all human righteousness. The righteous shall be requited in the earth, that is, chastised for his transgressions. So it would be now, St. Peter says; judgment must begin at the house of God. He adopts the inexact Septuagint translation for its substantial truth, as we now sometimes use versions which are sufficient for practical purposes, though we know them to be critically inaccurate. We observe again the absence of marks of quotation, as often in St. Peter. Bengel well remarks that the awful “scarcely” ( ) is softened by 2Pe 1:11. Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? The” ungodly “are the impious, scoffers, and blasphemers; the” sinners” are men of profligate and dissolute lives. But the words are (probably) included under one article in the Greek; the men were the same; one form of evil led to the other (comp. Psa 1:5; see also Mat 19:25).
1Pe 4:19
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God; rather, let them also that suffer. St. Peter sums up his exhortation; he returns to the thought of 1Pe 3:17, “It is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well-doing, than for evil-doing.” In the hour of suffering, as well as in times of prosperity, we are in the hands of a merciful and loving Father; we are to learn submission, not because the suffering is inevitable, but because it is according to his will, and his will is our sanctification and salvation. Commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator; rather, as in the Revised Version, commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator. The conjunction “as” must be omitted, not being found in any of the best manuscripts. The word rendered “Creator” () Occurs nowhere else in the Greek Testament. God is our Creator, the Father of spirits, He gave the spirit; to him it returneth. We must imitate our dying Lord, and, like him, commit our souls to the keeping of our heavenly Father as a deposit which may be left with perfect confidence in the hands of a faithful Creator (see 2Ti 1:12). There is an evident reference here to our Lord’s words upon the cross (Luk 23:46; Psa 31:5). St. Peter adds, “in well-doing.” The Christian’s faith must bring forth the fruits of holy living; even in the midst of suffering he must “be careful to maintain good works.”
HOMILETICS
1Pe 4:1-6 – Exhortation to entire separation from sin.
I. BY UNION WITH CHRIST.
1. Through suffering. Suffering is the appointed discipline of the Christian soul. Gold is tried by fire, the Christian’s faith by suffering. Christ himself suffered in the flesh, and while we are in the flesh we must also suffer. “In that he died, he died unto sin once;” his death separated him from sin, from the sight and hearing of sin, from that mysterious contact with human sin which he endured when “he was made sin for us, though he was without sin.” Our suffering ought to have the like powerit ought to remove us out of the dominion of those sins which have hitherto ruled over us. This is the end, the blessedness, of suffering. God sends it in love; he chastens us for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. But suffering doth not always save. “The sorrow of the world worketh death;” it produces discontent and murmuring, and hardens the heart. To gain the blessed fruit of suffering, the eye of the suffering Christian must be fixed upon the suffering Lord. We must “arm ourselves with the same mind.” “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” It must be our effort to think the same holy thoughts, to be animated by the same high resolve, which filled the sacred heart of Christ. Those thoughts, that resolve, are our spiritual amour. If we let our thoughts dwell on our troubles, if we fret ourselves, we are defenseless, we are exposed to the temptations which swarm around us. But we must look away from our own sufferings and keep the earnest gaze of faith fixed upon the cross. Thus by an act of faith we may unite our sufferings with the Savior’s sufferings, and then suffering sanctified by faith in Christ will have its blessed work in destroying the power of sin.
2. Through the change of heart wrought by suffering. “He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.” Suffering meekly borne is a great help in the daily conflict against sin; it shows us our own weakness and the emptiness of earthly comforts; it humbles us, and makes us less unwilling to submit ourselves to the holy will of God; it points our thoughts to the transitoriness of human life; it is miserable folly to waste that little life in following the wretched lusts of the flesh, when we ought to be doing the will of God. As the blessed angels do God’s holy will in heaven, so we must strive to do it in earth; we shall never dwell with the angels unless we are really trying to learn that deep and holy lesson.
II. BY FORSAKING OLD SINS AND OLD COMPANIONS IN SIN.
1. What we must forsake. The will of the Gentiles. The Gentile world was very evil when the Lord Jesus came; sin reigned everywhere, open, rampant, unblushing. It was a shame for the heathen thus to live, for they had the light of conscience; it is a shame of far deeper guilt for us Christians, who have the full light of the gospel, to live as did the Gentiles. Converted men must cast off those old sins; the sins of the flesh, uncleanness, drunkenness, and such like, ruin body and soul. Men set up idols in their heartsmoney, station, honor; they fall down and worship these things. Christians must forsake these unlawful idolatries. “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God; him only shalt thou serve.” Him only; Satan stands behind these idolsit is he whom men really worship when they give their hearts to this or that earthly idol. We have given too much time, far too much, to these idolatries. Let the time past suffice which we have miserably wasted; the residue may be very short. There is much to be done, let us take heed that we waste our time no more.
2. Whom we must forsake. Our old companions, it may be, think it strange that we no longer live as once, perhaps, we did; we were as bad as themselves once, they say. It may be so, but we are changed, and they, alas! are not; we have, we humbly trust, put on the new man; we are
He must exercise self-restraint. The etymology of the Greek word points to the safeguard of the mind; the mind, with all its thoughts, must be kept safe, restrained within due limits. Tim fancies, aspirations, desires, must not be allowed to wander unrestrained. For “the end of all things is at hand,” and the Christian must school himself into thoughtful preparation for that solemn hour. His mind should be filled, not with castles in the air, not with visions of earthly prosperity (a mischievous and enervating habit), but with thoughts of death, judgment, eternity. To keep the end steadily in view requires much self-restraint; it implies a well-ordered mind, a life guided by the eternal law of God, not frittered away in trifles and idle pleasures, not spent in pursuits and ambitions which do not rise above the atmosphere of earth. This self-restraint is the sobriety, the soundness of mind which the apostle here inculcates upon us; it extends over all the relations and circumstances of life; in all his desires and actions the Christian must be thoughtful, calm, composed; for he lives in the anticipation of the coming end, and his aim is the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
(2) He must be sober unto prayer. Excess in meat or drink or other pleasures of life unnerves the mind; excess weakens the body, brings misery into families, is the cause of poverty and squalor and wretchedness, fills our workhouses, our asylums, our prisons. And it ruins the soul; the drunkard, the glutton, the man of pleasure, cannot pray; his vices burden his soul and weigh it down to the earth, he cannot lift up his heart in prayer to God. For, indeed, prayer demands the exercise of all our highest powers; it requires concentration of thought, energy of desire, devout yearnings after God; it needs the gracious help of God the Holy Ghost, who maketh intercession in and for those who earnestly seek that sacred gift. He who lives in expectation of the end of all things, must live in prayer; for only by constant and faithful prayer can he prepare himself for that awful day; and he cannot pray aright unless he lives a godly, righteous, and sober life.
II. THE NECESSITY OF CHARITY IN ITS VARIOUS MANIFESTATIONS.
1. In forgiveness. In view of the coming judgment charity is necessary above all things; for it is they who love the brethren in Christ and for Christ who shall hear the joyful welcome, “Come, ye blessed of my Father.” They see Christ in his people, and for the love of Christ love and care for those whom Christ loved. But “he that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love;” he cannot enter into heaven, which is the home of love: there is no room there for the selfish, unloving heart. Love is necessary above all other graces; it is the exceeding great love of our Master and only Savior Jesus Christ which draws the hearts of men unto the cross; and those who come to the cross, which is the school of love, must learn of him who loved them even unto death to love all the brethren; for love is the very badge of our profession: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Love was the character of the Master; it must be the mark of the disciple. They must not only love one another; but that love, St. Peter says, must be earnest, intense; for it needs the strength of great love to forgive perfectly, and they who do not forgive cannot hope for forgiveness. True charity covers sins; it “believeth all things, hopeth all things;” it puts the fairest construction on the actions of others; it considers all possible extenuations of their errorsantecedents, circumstances, temptations; it does not willingly speak of faults and shortcomings; it hides them as far as may be. And if it is necessary for the good of the sinner, or of society, to uncover sins, charity does it with gentle, loving tact, seeking to win the sinner, to save his soul, forgiving him and seeking God’s forgiveness for him. He who thus covers the sins of others, who forgives in the faith of Christ and in the love of the brethren, shall be himself forgiven; his sin shall be covered through the atonement once made upon the cross.
2. In Christian hospitality. It is not costly display and sumptuous entertainments that St. Peter recommends; these things are often sinful waste; men spend their money in selfish ostentation instead of holy and religious works. The Lord had said to his disciples, “He that receiveth you, receiveth me;” and again, “Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” St. Peter re-echoes his Master’s words. Christians must show hospitality to one another, and that freely, liberally; murmuring destroys the beauty of the gift. Christ hath received us into the kingdom of God; he feeds us with heavenly food, the Bread that came down from heaven; we must receive our brethren, and that gladly, for his sake.
3. In the use of spiritual gifts. They are given to individual Christians for the benefit of the whole Church. Whatever gifts we may possess, they are but what we once received; they were entrusted to us to be used in our Master’s service; that service is the edification of his people. Christians are stewards of these spiritual gifts; they should be good stewards, not like the unjust steward, who wasted his master’s goods, and showed foresight and worldly prudence only in providing for himself. They should discharge their stewardship with unblemished honor, with a diligence and zeal which are beautiful in the sight of the truly good. The grace of God varies in its manifestations, in the diversities of gifts which issue from it, according to the needs of the Church, according to the capacity of the individual servant; it is like a piece of beautiful embroidery, various in color and design, but combined in one harmonious whole. Every Christian, even the humblest, has some gift; each should contribute his part, however small, to the general welfare; charity will guide him in the use of his particular gift. The apostle proceeds to give instances.
(1) The gift of utterance. St. Paul asks for the prayers of his converts, “that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Eph 6:19). It is a great gift, often a powerful means of winning souls to Christ. The utterances of spiritual experience must flow out of a sanctified life. Words without heart have little power; they soon betray their unreality. The words of a real Christian must be as oracles of God; if they issue out of a heart cleansed by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, then they are his utterances. “It is not ye that speak,” said our Lord to his apostles, “but the Spirit of my Father which speaketh in you.” This should be our aim and constant desireto live so near to God that we may be filled with the Holy Ghost, and so speak the words which the Spirit teacheth; only he can give the spiritual tact, the ready sympathy, the loving persuasiveness, which are so remarkable in some of his saints. But if our words are to be as oracles of God, we must be deeply versed in the oracles of God; our memories must be stored with precious words of Holy Scripture. The lessons which the blessed Spirit teaches now are in all things accordant with the sacred truths which holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
(2) Gifts of ministering. St. Peter combines under one word all other ministrations, such as the gift of government, of teaching the little children; services to be rendered to the poor, the sick, the afflicted. All these are necessary for the well-being of the Church, and all must be performed in the strength which God giveth. All these ministrations require love, zeal, energy, self-denial; and these holy tempers come of God. We are weak, but his strength is made perfect in weakness; we are selfish, but his Spirit can kindle the fire of holy love in the heart that once was cold and dead] He supplies the strength which we need for the work which he has given us to do; he has appointed to every man his work, and will enable every man to do the work appointed him, if he seeks for that strength in faith and prayer; “I can do all things,” said St. Paul, “through him that strengtheneth me.” Then let us work in the strength of God, and let us ascribe any measure of success which may be granted to us wholly to that strength which God giveth. “Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents; behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.” The faithful servant ascribes his gains to his Lord’s original gift.
(3) All gifts to be exercised to the glory of God. The Savior said, “I have glorified thee on the earth.” His disciples should imitate him, learning of him to seek the glory of God in all things and above all things. The love, the zeal, the energy, which true Christians exhibit in the use of the gifts given them by God show forth the glory of God; for that love and zeal can only come from his grace; weak, selfish creatures such as we are could not live holy, self-denying lives save by the help of God’s gracious presence. Every act of Christian self-denial, every labor of love, is an additional proof of the reality of God’s power and grace. Then God is glorified in his saints, and that through Jesus Christ; for it is the Lord Jesus who by his atonement hath brought us near to God, and enabled his true disciples to know and love and glorify their Father which is in heaven. The glory and the dominion are his, for all power is given to him in heaven and in earth; and with that gift of power he strengthens his chosen, enduing them with power from on high, enabling them to glorify God by a holy life and by a blessed death.
LESSONS.
1. “The end of all things is at hand.” “Prepare to meet thy God.”
2. Be self-restrained; be sober. Much prayer is needful for preparation against the hour of death; the self-indulgent cannot pray aright.
3. Above all things, follow after charity.
4. Make proof of your love in the forgiveness of injuries, in hospitality, in the use of spiritual gifts for the welfare of others.
5. Seek first the glory of God, and that through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1Pe 4:12-19 – Suffering.
I. THE PORTION OF CHRISTIANS.
1. Therefore they must not think it strange. The Lord had foretold it; it must come; it was coming when St. Peter was writing. It was a burning furnace, a fiery trial, the beginning of the cruel persecutions through which believers were to pass; the prison and the torture, the sword, the stake, the lion, were threatening the infant Church; the savage shout, “Christianos ad leones!” would soon be heard in the towns of Asia Minor. Hitherto the Roman magistrates had generally been on the side of justice; they had often protected the Christians from the violence of the Jews. But Christianity was about to be regarded as a religio illicita; the giant power of Rome was to be arrayed against it; emperors would attempt to blot out the very name of Christian. This frenzy of persecution was strange, unheard of; there had never been the like before; the rulers of the earth had never before banded together to root out a religion by fire and sword; conquered nations had been allowed to worship their own gods and to retain their ancient rites. But the Son of God had come to be the Savior of the world; the malice of Satan was stirred to the utmost; he would make a mighty effort to crush the Church of Christ. St. Peter shows a deep sympathy with his suffering brethren; he speaks to them in the language of tenderness; he calls them “beloved.” He does not depreciate the severity of the coming persecution; he calls it a fiery trial; he teaches us by his example how to deal with the afflicted. But he encourages them. It was to try them, to prove their faith. They must not think it strange. Indeed, this bitterness of persecution was a new thing now; but suffering would be the portion of Christians; they must regard it as belonging to their profession, and accustom themselves to patient endurance.
2. They must even rejoice in it. For it brings them near to Christ. He bore the cross; the cross is the badge of his chosen. The cross of knightly orders is reckoned a high honor now; but there is no cross of gold to be compared for true honor and for preciousness with that spiritual cross which makes the faithful Christian partake in the sufferings of Christ. For Christ is our King, and to be made like unto the King is of all honors the highestfar above all earthly distinctions. Leighton reminds us that Godfrey of Bouillon refused the royal crown when it was offered to him at Jerusalem: “Nolo auream, ubi Christus spineam””No crown of gold where Christ Jesus was crowned with thorns.” But suffering does not only make the faithful Christian like unto his Lord; it does more, it brings him into communion with the sufferings of Christ. Suffering borne in faith helps the Christian to realize the sufferings of the Lord; it brings the cross into nearer view; it enables him to approach, to grasp, to cling to it, to take it into his heart. And suffering thus endured in the faith of Christ crucified is united by faith with his sufferings and becomes part of them, and by that mystical union is sanctified and blessed to the soul’s salvation (Col 1:25).
3. It is the preparation for heaven. Suffering weans the Christian from earthly enjoyments; it helps him to lift up his eyes from earth and to see by faith the glory which shall be revealed. Those who now suffer with Christ shall then rejoice, and that with a joy which the heart of man cannot conceive. Even now they are blessed; the blessedness of the eighth Beatitude is theirs; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon them. Men may revile them; they will do so; when other persecutions cease, these persecutions of the tongue continue; “when all other fires of martyrdom are put out, these burn still” (Leighton). But the spirit of glory resteth on those who for Christ’s sake patiently endure. His presence is the foretaste and the pledge of the everlasting glory. He comes from the throne of glory; he brings with him the glory of holiness; he sheds the glory of a saintly life around the followers of Christ. And he resteth upon them; he came down from heaven on the great Day of Pentecost, not for a passing visit, but to abide forever with the Church. He abode upon Christ (Joh 1:32); he abideth with his true disciples (Joh 14:16). Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost (Act 10:38). Christians too partake in that Divine anointing; it abideth in them (1Jn 2:27). The Holy Dove resteth on the meek and patient Christian, preparing him by its sanctifying influences for the everlasting glory of heaven. Such men are truly blessed. Men may revile them, and, reviling them, revile the Holy Spirit who abideth in them; but they glorify him by the light which shines around from their holy livesthe light which was kindled by the sacred fire of his presence.
II. NOT ALL SUFFERING IS BLESSED.
1. Let Christians not suffer for evil-doing. They must be very careful to set a good example, and to give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. They must not suffer as evil-doers; nor even as busybodies. They must imitate the Lord Jesus, who said, “Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” (Luk 12:14). “Be much at home,” says Leighton, “setting things at rights within your own breast, where there is so much work, and such daily need of diligence, and then you will find no leisure for unnecessary idle prying into the ways and affairs of others; and further than your calling and the rules of Christian charity engage you, you will not interpose in any matters without you, nor be found proud and censorious, as the world is ready to call you.”
2. It is suffering for well-doing that is blessed. Suffering in itself has no spiritual value; it softens some, it hardens others; it saves some, to others it worketh death. But suffering for Christ’s sake is always blessed. If any man is called to suffer as a Christian, he must not be ashamed; for the Son of man will be ashamed in the last day of those who now are ashamed of him before men. We must confess him openly in the world; and if in any way we are called to suffer because we belong to Christ and own him as our Master, we must glorify God because we are counted worthy to suffer shame for his Name.
III. THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRISTIANS POINT ONWARDS TO THE JUDGMENT.
1. Judgment must begin at the house of God. God hates sin; he hates it most in those who are nearest to him; he would have those on whom his love rests clean from its defiling touch. Therefore “whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth;” therefore he says, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities” (Amo 3:2). Sometimes the Church passes through seasons of great affliction; one such season was at hand when St. Peter wrote. It would be a fiery trial, but the fire was a refining fire. It was kindled in a sense by the malice of Satan and the wickedness of evil men; but in a true and higher sense it came by the overruling will of God. Therefore it must be sent in love, in fatherly care for their souls. This thought sweetens suffering to the believer; it is our Father who sends it, and he sends it in mercy. “Judgment must begin at the house of God;” partly, indeed, because the sins of Christians, committed against light and against knowledge, are more grievous than the sins of those who know not the gospel; but mainly because the love of God is a wise and holy love, and though “he doth not willingly afflict nor grieve the children of men,” yet he chastens us for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. Judgment begins with the house of God; even the righter, us are “scarcely saved.” Not that their salvation is for a moment doubtful; Christ is able to save even to the uttermost all who come to God by him. But salvation is a great and difficult work; we are bidden to work out our salvation with fear and trembling; and, work as we may, we could not work it out for ourselves, were it not that God worketh in us “both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” The righteous is scarcely saved, because his enemies are so many and so strong, and he so weak and sinful; temptations swarm around him, and there are sinful lusts within his heart to which those temptations address themselves. He needs all the armour of lightthe breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit; he must fight the good fight of faith; he must watch and pray; he must quit himself like a man, “enduring hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” But if the righteous is scarcely saved, what hope of salvation have the careless and the slothful? If men are indifferent, listless in their religious exercises, without zeal, without enthusiasm, without self-denial, can they be walking in the narrow way? And there is no other way that leads to heaven.
2. It ends with the disobedient. When God’s people are judged, they are chastened of the Lord, that they should not be condemned with the world. Judgment in their case is transitory; it soon makes room for mercy; it was sent in mercy, and it issues in mercy. But it rests upon the disobedient. They’ will not listen to the gospel of God, the good news of salvation sent from heaven. God is not willing that any should perish; he sought to save them; they would not accept the terms of salvation. He gave his blessed Son to die for them; they “counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing.” Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear in the awful day?
3. Believers have no cause for terror. They are judged now that they should be saved at the last. Their sufferings are according to the will of God, and that will is their sanctification now, their salvation hereafter. He is their Creator; he will not despise the work of his own hands. He hath begotten them again to a lively hope; his saints are right dear to him; he is faithful; his truth abideth; his promise is sure. Let his chosen live in obedience, in well-doing, and then let them commit their souls to him. “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” were the dying words of Christ. Let these words be our daily prayer; let us commit our souls to him in life and in death. We need his gracious keeping every day to keep those souls of ours safe from the evil one and pure from sin; and oh, how shall we need that holy keeping in the hour of our death! May we have grace, then, to trust ourselves to him in humble confidence and Christian hope, learning of our blessed Lord, not only how to live, but also how to die!
LESSONS.
1. The Christian should not count suffering strange; it must come sooner or later: “Ye must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
2. He should rejoice, for suffering brings him nearer to the cross.
3. After the cross cometh the crown; even now the Holy Spirit of God rests upon his suffering children.
4. The judgment is at hand: prepare for it.
5. The righteous are “scarcely saved;” “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
6. “Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” “Flee from the wrath to come.”
HOMILIES BY A. MACLAREN
1Pe 4:10 – Gifts and service.
If we may venture to connect these words with the preceding injunction as well as with the following, the power of rendering simple hospitality is as truly a gift of God’s grace for the use of which a man is responsible as is the loftiest endowment of eloquent speech or eminent service. The large principles embodied in these simple words would revolutionize the Church, and go far to regenerate the world, if they were honestly carried out. All powers are gifts. All gifts are trusts. What simplicity, what power, what unselfishness, what diligence, what regard for others’ work, what humility as to one’s own, would fill the life which was wholly molded by these convictions.
I. THE UNIVERSALITY OF GIFT. “Every man hath received,” says Peter, and builds upon it as a well-recognized fact. All these poor ignorant Asiatics, picked from the filth of idolatry, slaves and outcasts as some of them had been, rude and uncultured and lowly of station and imperfectly Christianized as many of them were,they each had some Divine gift which needed only to be burnished and shown to shine afar with heavenly brightness. Every Christian man today, in like manner, is endowed with some gift; for every Christian has the Spirit of God dwelling in him, and that Spirit never comes empty-handed. Whatever subordination there may be in the Church, as in all organized communities, its very life depends on the fact that all its members possess the Divine Spirit, and no claim of authority to rule nor prerogative of teaching, which does not recognize that fact, can stand for a moment. The aspiration of Moses has been fulfilled (Num 11:29), “All the Lord’s people” are “prophets,“ and “the Lord” has “put his Spirit upon them.” Miraculous powers were widely diffused in the early Church, and, with the gift of tongues, constituted the most conspicuous tokens of the gift of the Pentecostal Spirit. But even then these were not “the best gifts.” The graces of faith, hope, and charity, those fruits of the Spirit which consist of a holy character and a heart transparent for the heavenly light which burns within it, as a light fed by perfumed oil in an alabaster lamp,these are better gifts of an indwelling Spirit than all supernatural endowments. The natural faculties, of course, are gifts. To each man the question may be addressed concerning these, “What hast thou which thou hast not received?” But the natural faculties of the Christian, reinforced, quickened, directed by the indwelling Spirit, are still more emphatically gifts. The power of brain or tongue, the spirit of counsel or of might, which he received from the creative breath of God, is intensified by the Spirit, which brings the breath of a new Divine life, as a lamp burns brighter when plunged into a jar of oxygen. And besides the new graces and heightened action of native power, all ability or opportunity dependent on outward circumstances is gift. Health, any skill of hand or eye, wealth, position,everything must come into this category. All which we have is gift. In that sense the gift is universal. And we all have the gift. In that sense, too, it is universal.
II. THE VARIETY OF GIFTS. The apostle speaks here of the “manifold”literally, the “variegated” or “many-colored” grace; and exhorts to variety of service based upon dissimilarity of gifts. It cannot but be that the fullness of God passing into the limits of created minds should manifest itself in an infinite variety. The light flashed at different angles from a million dewdrops twinkles and glitters from their tiny spheres in all differing tints of green and purple and gold. The unlimited variety of innumerable recipients growing in the measure of their possessions through eternity is the only adequate manifestation of the infinite God. Such variety is essential, too, to the existence of a community. “If the whole were an eye, where were the body?” The homely proverb says, “It takes all sorts to make a world.” With diversity comes room for mutual help and mutual tolerance. Every man has some gift; no man has all. Therefore they are bound together by reciprocal wants and supplies, and convexities here and concavities there fit in to one another and make a solid whole. The same life works, but variously, in the different organs of the one body, so that there should be no schism in the body. This variety constitutes an imperative call to service. Each man has something which some of his brethren want.
The least flower with a brimming cup may stand,
And share its dewdrop with another near.”
The concert will not be complete, though the roll of the great ocean of praise that surges round the throne be as the noise of many waters, without the tinkle of the little rill of my praise. And some poor soul, which God meant to go shares with me, will have to starve if I do not part my portion among the needy. It constitutes, too, an authoritative prescription of the manner of service. “As every one hath received, so minister the same.“ I)o net minister anything else, but that very thing which you have received. God shows you what he intends you to do by what he gives you. Do not copy other people; do not try to be anybody else. Be true to yourself. If your gifts impel you to a special mode of service, follow them. Find out what you are fit for, and do it in your own fashion. Take your directions at first hand from God, and don’t spoil your own little gift by trying to bend it into the shape of somebody else’s. Flutes cannot be made to sound like drums. Be content to give out your own note, and leave the care of the harmony to God. And, on the other hand, beware of interfering with your brother’s equal liberty. Do not hastily condemn modes of action because they are not yours. A Salvation Army captain and a philosophical theologian may not understand each other’s dialect; but there is room for them both, and they should not hinder each other. There are many vessels of different materials and shapes for different uses in Christ’s great house. The widest tolerance of the diversities of operation is the truest recognition of the one Spirit which worketh all in all.
III. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF GIFTS. “As good stewards.” Peter is probably here repeating the thought which he had learned from his Master’s parables. The thought of stewardship is no doubt a natural one, even apart from the reminiscence of our Lord’s teaching; but we can scarcely suppose that Christ’s words did not suggest it here. All gifts are trusts, Peter thinks; that is to say, no Christian gets his natural endowments, nor his material possessions, and still less his spiritual graces, for himself alone. We all admit that in theory about the two former, and in some degree about the latter. But Christian men do not sufficiently consider that God gives them even salvation for the sake of others as well as for their own. No creature is so small but that its well-being is a worthy end for God’s gifts and care. No being is so great that its well-being is worthy to be an exclusive end of God’s gifts and care. We are saved “that we may show forth the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The joy of forgiveness, the peace of conscience, the blessed assurance of the Father’s love, the hopes of an immortal heaven,these are not given us for self-absorbed and solitary enjoyment, but that, saved, we may glorify and proclaim the Savior, and bring to others the unspeakable gift. So with all the lesser gifts which flow from that greatestall spiritual endowments, natural capacities heightened by the Spirit’s indwelling, or outward endowments and possessionsthey are our Lord’s goods put into our hands to administer for him. They were his before they became ours. They are his while they are called ours. They are ours that we may have the joy of bringing him somewhat, and may not only know the blessedness of receiving, but the greater blessedness of giving, even though we have to say, while we bring our gifts, “Of thine own have we given thee.” If Christian men really believed what they say they do, that they are stewards, not owners, trustees and not possessors, the whole face of Christianity would be altered. There would be men and money for all noble service, and the world would be bright with unselfish and various ministries, worthily representing “the manifold grace of God.”A.M.
1Pe 4:19 – The wisdom and peace of the sufferer.
“Wherefore.” The word carries us back to the whole series of thoughts on persecution and sorrow in the preceding verses, and, as it were, binds them all together, as a man might bind a bundle of twigs to make a standing-ground for himself and his companions on a black bog. The fagot is made up of these truths, namelysorrow is no extraordinary anomaly; we share in the great Sufferer’s afflictions; the purpose of them is our participation in the great King’s glory, and that a joy exceeding the sorrow may be ours; that sorrow and shame will bring the Divine Spirit to overshadow us with his peaceful, dove-like wing, and to fill our souls with the radiance of a present God; that by it we may glorify the God who in it glorifies us; that the sharpest sorrows are but a light portion of the judgments which are to come upon all the earth, and are meant, not to destroy, but to purify and to separate from those on whom the final and fatal judgment of condemnation shall fall. Wherefore, for all this closely knit structure of calming and courage-giving truths, quiet confidence and uninterrupted diligence in holy deeds is the sorrowful heart’s wisdom.
I. THE TRUE TEMPER OF THE CHRISTIAN SUFFERER. We can scarcely fail to hear in the words one more echo of the gospel story. Peter remembers, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” and bids us all, in our lighter sorrows, in like manner commit our souls to God. The word is the same, and, though our Lord spoke of the act of death, and the apostle of the surrender in life, the temper and disposition are the same. Absolute confidence and complete submission were exhibited on the cross. [Nothing less is our duty and privilege. When sorrow comes, and not only in joy when it is so easy, we are to give up ourselves to God in the full abandonment of trust, as a man who has been fighting for hours against the storm reaches home at last, and, with muscles relieved from strain, gratefully flings himself down to rest. We are to put ourselves in God’s care, as people in war flock into the forts, or as a householder will deposit his valuables in the hands of his banker, and then sleep careless of thieves or fire. God will take good care of all that is deposited in his custody. No violence can force his safe where his jewels are kept. If we recognize our own importance, and, abandoning all self-reliance, trust wholly to him, we shall suffer no harm and fear no foe; but if we will live in the open country, and refuse the shelter of his stronghold, because we either do not believe the peril, or think we can keep ourselves sale by our own arms, some night or other we shall be roused from dreams to see the faces of the savage foes all about our bed, and shall know the sharpness of their arrows and the implacableness of their hearts. These two things, which are but the positive and the negative sides of oneself-distrust and reliance on Godare the secret of all tranquility as well as of all safety. That heart may well be at rest which has shifted the responsibility of its defense from its own weak self to God. If we once can come to feel that it is more his business than ours to take care of us, a whole cloud of cares falls like some black precipitate to the bottom, and leaves the heart clear. Confidence is not enough without submission. To commit our souls to God includes “Do what thou wilt,” as well as “Thou wilt do lovingly and well.” Only when the will yields, and, though it may be with tears bitter as death, and lasting as life, accepts and conforms itself to God’s will, do we really know the blessedness of faith. That which we no longer kick against no longer pricks us. The cell out of which we do not wish to go ceases to be a prison, and becomes an oratory or a study. The horse that plunges feels the restraint of his harness, which would not gall if he went quietly. “It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good,” is a talisman which changes bitter into sweet, darkness into light, sorrow into content, and death into life.
II. THE PRACTICAL ACCOMPANIMENT OF THIS TEMPER. “In well-doing.” There are many important truths suggested by that significant addition.
1. The familiar truth is suggested that our committing our souls to God does not mean that we are to fold our hands in indolence, which we misname trust. Neither are we to be so much engaged with cultivating the inward graces of faith and submission as to neglect the practice of common deeds of kindness. Our religion may become transcendental, a thing of spiritual experiences and emotions, and may be in danger of soaring so high as to forget the work which has to be done here. But it must have hands to toil as well as wings to mount. Peter was foolish when he desired to stay on the Mount of Transfiguration, for there was a poor devil-ridden boy waiting in the plain to be healed.
2. Here is a warning against giving up work because of sorrow. Ages of persecution have seldom been ages of service. All the strength of the Church has been absorbed in simple endurance. And in our private sorrows we are too apt to fling aside our tools in order to sit down, and brood, and remember, and weep. We hold ourselves excused from tasks which otherwise seem plain duties, because our hearts are heavy. There is no greater mistake than to give up work because of trouble. Next to God’s Spirit, it is the best comforter. We feel our own burdens less when we try to help some heavy-laden brother to catty his. Our sorrow will be less and our faith more if we honestly set ourselves to the tasks, and especially to the tasks of doing good to others which lie at our hands.
3. All sin kills faith. “Well-doing” here may either mean beneficence or pure moral conduct. If the former, the remarks just made apply. If the latter, the principle is presented that such conduct must be associated with our committing of our souls to God, because every breach of the solemn law of right will weaken our power of faith and make a barrier between us and God. A small grain of sin will blind us; a little sin will prevent us from seeing God. A thin film of air hinders two bodies from uniting; a thin layer of sin keeps the soul from touching God. Any transgression will disturb our faith, and make it close its opening buds, as a bright cloud crossing the sun folds together the petals of some plants. There must be pure and noble deeds if there is to be any completeness and continuity of peaceful confidence; for, though faith is the parent of righteousness, righteousness reacts on faith, and a hand foul with evil is lamed thereby, so that it cannot firmly grasp the outstretched hand of Christ.
III. THE GROUND OF THIS CONFIDENCE IN THE ACTS AND CHARACTER OF GOD. He to whom we entrust our souls is their Creator. Therefore he is strong to preserve no less than to make, and therefore, too, he knows how much tension and strain the soul can bear, and will not overweight it, nor test it up to the breaking-point. As St. Paul says, he will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able. Where better can some precious work be put for safe keeping than in the maker’s hands? Where can my soul be so secure and well than confided to the care of him who fashioned me, and measures my sorrows, knowing my frame and remembering that I am dust? He is a faithful Creator. The act of creation constitutes a relation between God and us, which imposes on ‘him obligations and gives us claims on him. He has made a covenant with his creatures in the hour when he created them, which he keeps for ever. He is faithful, in that he ever remains true to himself, to his own past, and to his articulate promises. What he has been we can rely on, and be sure that, as we have heard, so shall we see, and that every act of mercy and succor in the past binds him to extend the same mercy and succor today and for ever. So all the old history flashes up into new meaning for every poor sorrowful, trusting soul. What he has spoken he will adhere to, and there are promises enough for us to build absolute confidence upon. No man shall ever be able to quote an assurance of his which turned out a rotten support, a rind without a kernel. He is a faithful Creator. Therefore, if we “commit the keeping of our souls to him in well-doing,” with the ancient prayer, “Forsake not the work of thine own hands,” we too shall be blessed with the answer given to a hundred generations, and fulfilled to every soul that rested upon it, “I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.”A.M.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON
1Pe 4:3 – The time past, a sermon for the last day of the year.
Every day and every moment closes and commences a year; yet the artificial arrangement by which it is agreed that a year shall close at one certain fixed moment of a certain fixed day is an arrangement both convenient and contributive in many ways to our moral and religious advantage. The review of the closing year is a very proper, and may be a very profitable, exercise. The newspapers review the events of the year which are of political, financial, or commercial interest. Man has, however, higher intereststhose which are moral and spiritual. It is desirable that we should take a retrospect of “the time past,” with a view of tracing God’s providential dealings with us, with a view of estimating our own spiritual progress, and of learning lessons of wisdom and of helpfulness.
I. WHAT DOES REFLECTION SUGGEST TO US CONCERNING TIME PAST IN ITSELF?
1. Its passage has been rapid, yet it has been filled with events of great importance.
2. It is perfectly irrecoverable; we cannot live the expiring year over again.
3. It has left ineffaceable traces upon our character. We are all changed by its influences, its occupations, its lessonssome for the better, some for the worse.
4. It is not forgotten by the Lord and Judge of all. In this sense he “requireth that which is past.”
II. IN WHAT SPIRIT SHOULD THE CHRISTIAN CONSIDER THE TIME PAST?
1. His first and most prominent thought should be of the mercy and loving-kindness of God revealed to him as the days and weeks have passed by.
2. Especially should he remember the long-suffering and forbearance which has been displayed towards him by his heavenly Father upon repeated occasions, when such consideration has been called for by failures in duty and by forgetfulness of Divine love.
3. He should remember with regret and repentance the opportunities of obedience and usefulness which he has neglected.
4. Nor should he lose sight of the discipline which he may have been called upon to endure, and which he should remember, not with a rebellious, but with a submissive spirit.
III. IN WHAT SPIRIT SHOULD THE IRRELIGIOUS AND UNDECIDED REVIEW THE TIME PAST?
1. He should remember with humiliation and shame that he has broken the Law of God, and rejected the gospel of Christ.
2. He should reflect upon the evil influence which his example of religion has exercised over his fellow-men, especially over those within his family and social circle.
3. He should consider that he is the worse at the end of the year than at its beginning, because of his delay to repent and to commence by God’s grace a new and better life.
IV. How SHOULD THE MEMORY OF THE TIME FAST AFFECT THE TIME TO COME?
1. We may be helped to realize the brevity of life, and the uncertainty and probable brevity especially of what of life yet remains.
2. We may be induced to turn away from the evil which has been indulged in during bygone years, and to enter upon the holier life and more consecrated service which our conscience approves and enjoins. The sands are fast falling; the tide is fast ebbing; the light is fast fading. Let the future see our vows fulfilled, our hopes realized, our aims achieved!J.R.T.
1Pe 4:7 – Waiting for the end.
Like his brother apostle, St. Paul, St. Peter lived in constant anticipation of “the end.” This attitude of mind was no doubt encouraged by the discourses of our Lord Jesus, to which Simon Peter had undoubtedly listened. And it must have been confirmed by the state of society both in the Jewish and the Christian world; changes were imminent, and none could say what form these changes might take. In some respects such statements and admonitions as those of the text are even more pressingly appropriate in our times than when they were first penned.
I. THE VIEW WHICH CHRISTIANS ARE TAUGHT TO TAKE OF THEIR EARTHLY CONDITION. The New Testament impresses upon us the transitory and temporary nature of all things earthly. Sound understanding will seek to verify this, not by prophetical and historical dates, but by moral and unquestionably significant facts.
1. There may well have been in the apostle’s mind a foresight of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, the dispersion of the Jewish race, and the abrogation of the Hebrew religion.
2. Yet a larger reference is probable; “the end of all things” can scarcely be limited to the catastrophe which befell the Israelitish people. There is no permanence on earth. The Christian, like the Jewish dispensation, must pass away. When this world has served its purposethe purpose centring in the moral history of mankindit will be dissolved. The visible and tangible are not the real, are not the lasting. Moral results will outlast the material framework of their development.
3. Every individual who reflects must feel that his own brief life-history gives point and pathos to the end of all things.
II. THE CONSEQUENT SPIRIT AND DUTY OF CHRISTIANS CHERISHING SUCH CONVICTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS. A superficial observer might suppose that the result of such beliefs must needs be excitement and distress, or, if not distress, solicitude. But this is not the effect designed by our Lord and his apostles. Quite the contrary; for St. Peter, in view of the approaching end, admonishes to
(1) soundness of mind;
(2) sobriety; and
(3) prayers.
Such great and solemn realities as religion unfolds before the mind are fitted to strengthen, steady, and mature the character; and at the same time to inspire with pious desires and petitions. A spirit such as that here enjoined may justly be said both to qualify for this present probation and to prepare for future fruition. For “the end of all things” does not involve the end of God’s government, or the end of man’s life and spiritual progress – J.R.T.
1Pe 4:8 – Fervent love.
Because St. John was emphatically the apostle of love, it must not be supposed that the inculcation of this virtue was left to him alone. The eloquent panegyric of charity in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Corinthians is a proof of that apostle’s sense of the importance of this virtue. And this passage in St. Peter’s Epistle shows that the Lord’s companionship had not failed to produce upon the mind of “the prince of the apostles” an impression of the Divine beauty and of the supreme excellence of love.
I. THE DIVINE FOUNDATION OF LOVE AS A CHRISTIAN VIRTUE.
1. The Divine nature is love; this is the pre-eminent attribute of the Eternal Father.
2. The spirit and example of our Lord Jesus are the supreme revelation of this grace; and such a revelation was only possible because Jesus was the Son of God.
II. THE PEERLESS EXCELLENCE OF LOVE AS A CHRISTIAN VIRTUE. St. Paul tells us, “the greatest of these is charity.” And Peter here enjoins Christians to be “above all things fervent in their love.”
III. THE SOCIAL BENEFITS OF LOVE. In the Christian society there is no place for those lower principles of union which have force in some relations of human life, as e.g. a common interest. But where love is, there joy and peace, fellowship and sympathy and material helpfulness, will assuredly prevail. Love covers sins; it hides those that exist, prevents those that in its absence might make their appearance, and secures by intercession the pardon of those which have been committed.
IV. THE FERVOR OF CHRISTIAN LOVE. Love may be in name only; it may exist in a state of feebleness. But in such cases it is of little service. The love which Christ approves is that which” many waters cannot quench,” and which is “stronger than death.”J.R.T.
1Pe 4:10 – Stewardship.
It is too common for men to pride themselves upon their advantages, the strength of body, the gifts of intellect, the bestowments of fortune, which they call their own. But the spirit of Christianity is altogether opposed to such a habit of mind. Peter as well as Paul took occasion to remind Christians that their advantages should be estimated and employed in a very different manner.
I. THE CHRISTIAN‘S ENDOWMENTS, ACQUISITIONS, AND POSSESSIONS ARE THE FREE GIFT OF GOD‘S KINDNESS. Those who do not believe in a Divine Giver cannot regard their possessions as a gift. But many who do not deny that they are the creatures of God’s power and the dependents upon God’s bounty, nevertheless think and act as if they had only themselves to thank for their advantages. We are therefore again and again reminded that we owe all that we have to the unmerited favor of Heaven. “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?”
II. THE CHRISTIAN‘S ENDOWMENTS, ACQUISITIONS, AND POSSESSIONS ARE A TRUST WHICH HE HOLDS FROM GOD, AND FOR WHICH HE MUST GIVE ACCOUNT. We are called to be “good stewards.” Now, a steward is not an owner of the property; he is the responsible administrator of a trust. Why have our various advantages been conferred? Certainly not that we may use them for our personal pleasure or emolument or aggrandizement, but that by their means we may be serviceable to others. The former course would be an abuse of the trust reposed in us. The conferring of such a trust is a personal probation. He who has five talents is expected so to use them as to increase his means and powers of usefulness, and to offer to the Judge the interest which accrues to him who faithfully employs his deposit.
III. THE CHRISTIAN‘S ENDOWMENTS, ACQUISITIONS, AND POSSESSIONS ARE DESIGNED FOR THE SERVICE AND BENEFIT OF Ills FELLOW–MEN. The expression of St. Peter is noticeable in its definiteness and graphic force: “ministering it among yourselves.”
1. This, then, is an appointed service.
2. A beneficial service.
3. A mutual service. In the Church of Christ no one is wholly and only a giver, or wholly and only a receiver. Every one has some gift, and every one has some need. It is by mutual ministration that the general welfare is secured.
4. A service acceptable to Christ. He who gave not only his gifts, but himself, for men, cannot but take pleasure in every manifestation of sympathy, in every ministration of helpfulness, to be met with in his Church – J.R.T.
1Pe 4:11 – Christian speech.
The language of the apostle here need not be taken as referring to the heathen oracles. The New Testament makes use of the expression “oracles” to designate divinely authorized utterances intended to instruct and benefit men. Thus Moses is said by Stephen to have received “living oracles” to give unto the Jews; and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes the elements of Christian doctrine as “first principles of the oracles of God.”
I. THE SEVERAL KINDS OF CHRISTIAN SPEECH.
1. In the primitive Church there were those who were inspired to utter forth with authority doctrines and precepts of religion. This was a special and supernatural “gift” bestowed upon the apostles, but by no means confined to them, and a gift the exercise of which must have been especially serviceable when Christianity was young, when some of the books of the New Testament were not yet written, and the canon was not yet complete. With bow deep a sense of responsibility such gifted persons must have addressed Christian congregations one can easily understand.
2. There were also those who were entrusted with the gift of tongues. Whatever differences of opinion may prevail with regard to the character of this gift, one thing is clear, and that is that it was supernaturally adapted for making a deep and signal impression in favor of the Christian faith. The singular nature of this power must have led its possessors to deem themselves “oracles” of God.
3. But there seems no reason for confining the reference of this admonition within limits so narrow. In the Church of Christ were those who, as pastors, teachers, and evangelists, were wont to employ the gift of speech from Christian motives and to Christian ends. This is a function which men of God have through all the Christian centuries been called to discharge, for the edification of the body of Christ, and for the spread of the gospel among men. Often have such experienced the restraining and inspiring influence of the apostolic direction given in this passage. When tempted to use their gift of speech for the purpose of advancing their own interests or displaying their own powers, such men have been checked by the recollection of this just and holy requirement, that they should speak as God’s oracles.
4. Further, the reference of this language may be enlarged so as to include all speech of Christian men. There is a sense in which he who is filled with the Spirit of Christ must needs speak, whenever he opens his lips, as the oracles of God; for his speech is sincere and true, wise, just, and kind.
II. THE HOLY AND BENEFICENT INTENTION OF CHRISTIAN SPEECH.
1. It should be a revelation from Godnot, indeed, in the narrower and more proper meaning of that word, but in a sense justifiable and defensible. The oracle declares the mind and will of the Divinity. The Christian’s speech brings the holy and gracious God near to those who listen and understand.
2. It should serve for the guidance of those to whom it is addressed. It may not be didactic in form, but substantially it possesses a directing virtue. Christian speech may, and constantly does, preserve men from error and from sin, and guide them into truth and righteousness. It is used to this end by the Spirit of wisdom and of grace, who not only influences the mind and heart of him who speaks, but also the conscience, affections, and will of those who hear – J.R.T.
1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 4:13 – Trials.
The word “trials” is one which is often upon the lips of persons who apparently give little heed to the spiritual meaning which is implied in it. People use the term as equivalent to “sufferings,” “calamities,” losing sight of the fact that it suggests great truths concerning our moral discipline and probation. In this passage the Apostle Peter, who was doubtless by Divine inspiration writing out of his own experience, expounds the Christian doctrine of earthly “trials.”
I. THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH TRIALS ARE PERMITTED. To many minds the trials which befall the good and the bad alike seem hardly consistent with the benevolent character of God. But it is forgotten that the end of the Divine government is not to secure to all men the greatest possible amount of enjoyment, but to place every man in a position of moral discipline, to give him an opportunity to resist temptation, to cultivate virtuous habits, to live an obedient and submissive and truly religious life. Not as if God were indifferent to the issue of such probation; on the contrary, he watches its process with interest, and delights to see the gold purified in the furnace, the wheat winnowed from the chaff. The hearer of the Word is put upon his trial, and events prove whether he will hear or forbear. The believer in Christ is put upon his probation, and it is seen whether his faith is strong and his love sincere. Time tries all.
II. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH TRIALS ARE TO BE ENDURED BY THE CHRISTIAN. St. Peter shows us that the true Christian temper under trials is that which regards all such afflictions as participation in the Master’s sufferings. He who is one with Christ finds his satisfaction in being “as his Master, his Lord.” He does not ask to be exempt from the experiences Jesus submitted to pass through before him. And he is sustained and cheered to know that, even in the heated furnace, there is One with him whose form is as the Son of God. Here is the true remedy for human restlessness and for human discontent. What we share with Christ we may accept with submission and gratitude.
III. THE ISSUE TO WHICH TRIALS ARE TO TEND. We are not left without light upon the future. As our Lord himself’, even in his humiliation and woe, saw of the travail of his soul, and was satisfied; so are his followers justified in anticipating, not merely deliverance, but exaltation. The glory of the triumphant Redeemer shall be revealed, and they who have shared his cross shall then with joy sit down with him upon his throne – J.R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. NEW
1Pe 4:1-7 – The persecuted Christian reminded of the necessity of suffering for righteousness.
This passage is the most difficult in the entire Epistle. We can see a meaning in each of its sentences taken separately, but when we take them together their meaning, as a whole, is obscure. As far, however, as I can understand it, I would entitle the paragraph, The persecuted Christian reminded of the necessity of suffering for righteousness. Peter here states the fact that suffering for righteousness is no strange thing, but what Christians must reasonably look for.
I. CHRIST‘S SUFFERING BIDS HIS PEOPLE BE READY TO SUFFER. The sufferings of our Lord alluded to here are not his substitutionary sufferingsthey are referred to in the eighteenth verse; of them, to the world’s last moment, it will be true, “I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none with me.” But there is another class of our Lord’s sufferings in which his people can, and according to their likeness to him must, shapethe suffering he bore in the maintenance of holiness in an evil world; of this he could say, “The disciple is not above his Master.” There is sometimes confusion in Christian minds, in finding that Christ is said to suffer for us, and yet that in many places we are called to suffer with him. Let us be clear on this point, we are “redeemed by the precious blood of Christ;” God requires nothing from us for our redemption, but, when thus redeemed, much of Christ’s suffering becomes the pattern of ours; and of that he says, “He that taketh not up his cross and cometh after me cannot be my disciple.”
1. Christ‘s experience would lead us to expect that holiness must suffer on earth. For three and thirty years he, the Embodiment of perfect love to God and man, lived and moved upon this earth, and what was the result? He was “despised and rejected of men;” the longer he lived, the more he wrought, the wider he was known, the wilder and louder and fiercer became the cry, “Away with him! Crucify him!” Goodness condemns wickedness when the lips say nothing; the very presence of a good man in an ungodly circle is a protest against evil. On one side at least there will always be enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman; and the nearer his people approach conformity to their Lord’s character, the more may they be sure of conformity to their Lord’s death.
2. What Christ‘s sufferings have made possible to us should lead us to be willing to suffer for its attainment. Our Lord’s sufferings had no other end than our sanctification, to secure God-likeness in us. How great a boon must this be, when it could be purchased at no less a price than what comes to mind, when we speak of our Lord as “the Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;” and for which he did not regard that Drice as too great to pay! And if we find, when we try to secure and maintain this great blessing, that it can only be done at much cost to ourselves, how impossible it is for us to shrink from it, when we remember the greater cost of this to him ] It were a solemn thing to refuse through cowardice to “fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ.”
3. The claims of Christ should lead us to resolve to suffer if need be for him. Where Christ’s sacrifice is present to the mind, there is no room for self left; the “I” in us is destroyed; the blood of Christ, when rightly apprehended, not only blots out our sin, but also our self. We come now to the difficult part of this passage, but I think it brings before us this truth
II. THE SUFFERING OF CHRIST‘S PEOPLE NECESSARILY ARISES FROM THREE CAUSES.
1. Suffering through mortification of the flesh. It seems natural to suppose that when, having said, “Christ hath suffered in the flesh,” the apostle goes on to say, “For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin,” he is still referring to Christ. But it cannot be so, for of him” who did no sin” it cannot be said that he hath “ceased from sin;” it must refer to us. Yet how can it be said of them whom he has called to arm themselves with the same suffering mind as Christ, that they have “ceased from sin”? I think we have here a parallel to what we read in Rom 6:6-11,” Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him,” etc. That contains a priceless truth, which we do not half realize. It speaks of a death in us, corresponding to our Lord’s death; that this is to be the sublime result of his deaththe death of sin in his people; and it is this which Peter here holds up to us, “He that hath suffered in the flesh [hath put to death the flesh], hath ceased from sin,” etc. But that destroying the flesh is suffering, to take our natural desires and passions and nail them to the cross is crucifixiona slow, lingering death, which involves unutterable pain till it is complete.
2. Suffering through difference from the world. “For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles,” etc. We have here a true picture of the pagan character, and it is hardly possible for us to imagine the contrast which was manifest when such a one became converted to Christ. Glaring evils had to be renounced at once, lifelong associations had to be severed at a blow. That was the case here; and what was the result? They were evil spoken of, and that is where the suffering always comes in when we break with wrong associations. We shall be thought strange by others, and shall seem to be condemning them, assuming that we are better than they. And to be misjudged, misrepresented, reviled, is suffering; but, as Christians, there is no help for it, we must sever ourselves from what is worldly.
3. Suffering through, spiritual discipline. “For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead” etc. The word “dead” here must be taken to mean those who are dead whilst they live. But. even with that alteration, it is difficult to see clearly what the verse means. Now it is said that the construction of the Greek allows of the insertion of the word “although;” just as in a passage in Rom 6:17, which we never read without mentally inserting the word “although.” If that be so, the meaning is evident: “For to this end was the gospel preached even to them who were dead in sins, than [although] they might be judged, condemned, persecuted, put to death according to men in the flesh, they might live according to God in the spirit.” Spiritual life is God’s end with us, let men do with us what they may. And the spiritual life is often developed by means of what men do to us. Every act of persecution is to be followed by a deeper peace, a holier purity, a higher power.
III. THE COMING END ASSISTS CHRIST‘S PEOPLE TO BEAR SUFFERING IN A RIGHT SPIRIT. Looking at this superficially, some might think this a hard gospel; the follower of Christ is to arm himself with the expectation of suffering. But look what comes before, and what follows after this. What comes before? “Forasmuch as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh.” What follows it? “The end of all things is at hand.” This hard demand stands between the cross and the crown; that makes all the difference.
1. The coming end calls us to estimate reasonably the extent of the sneering. Read it as it is in the Revised Version. “Be ye therefore of sound mind.” The apostle is here calling the persecuted to regard their sufferings reasonably, in connection with the fact that “the end of all things is at hand.” The earth-trials of God’s people are, after all, but the momentary cloud in the day of heavenly sunshine, which shall have no evening, of which now in Christ we have the dawn.
2. The coming end calls us to vigilance lest we lose the coming blessing. That “coming end” wilt be the beginning of the glorified lifethat life in which what we have sown here we shall reap; that life in which we may have “an entrance ministered to us abundantly,” or in which we may be “saved yet so as by fire.” Beware lest under the pressure of temptation you conform to the world, you be ashamed of Jesus, you refuse your cross, and thereby lose your crown. Suffering there must be; look to the end, anticipate the glory which it begins, and against all that would rob you of the fullness of that glory, watch unto prayer – C.N.
1Pe 4:8-11 – The persecuted Christian reminded of the help of brotherly love.
“Above nil things have fervent love among yourselves.” You will remember how this expression, “above all things,” corresponds with other Scripture. Paul says, “Now abideth faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love.” “Now the end of the commandment is love unfeigned.” James calls this “the royal law;” and our Lord himself says, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” The introduction of this theme in addressing the persecuted Church is very natural. Next to the support of the sympathy and help of God in trial, is the grasp of a brother’s hand of whose heart we are sure. Love sustains individual weakness; it unites the Church, and makes it impregnable to the common foe. This is one end of Church-fellowship; no life can be so strong as it might that stands alone, or, even if it would, alone it can do nothing (as it ought) to shelter the weakness of others. Strength comes with union, therefore let there be union. But the union is only a name, Church-fellowship is only a mockery, and its promise of strength a deception, unless it be the union and fellowship of sacred love.
I. THE DEMAND FOR FERVENT LOVE IN THE CHURCH. We sometimes excuse ourselves for not feeling as we should towards the brethren by saying we cannot make ourselves love. But that cannot be right, for our very text lays on us the responsibility of having fervent love, and everywhere it is the subject of command. What, then, can we do to this end? There are three duties we can fulfill which tend to it.
1. The cultivation of what would foster brotherly love. Love of the brethren springs from love to the Father. Natural love is born in us, spiritual love is not. That comes with the new birth, and is fostered and developed only by fellowship with God. Know God, dwell in God, love God, and the Scripture says brotherly love will be the result. Cherish love to God, and we shall find ourselves, without setting out to do it, loving those he loves for his sake.
2. Watchfulness against what would hinder brotherly love. If certain evils are allowed to spring up in a Church, farewell to a spirit of love then. One great danger of these evils is that they are subtle and dwell mostly out of sight. The Church as a Church, therefore, cannot deal with them; its safety depends on its individual members jealously watching their approach, and unsparingly destroying them at the moment of contact. A disputatious spirit is one of these evils. Some minds are never known to agree with anything; there is always something to criticize adversely everywhere. That spirit is contagious, and kills love. There is also a jealous spirit; half the troubles of Church-life are due to jealousy, which often has no ground but that of suspicion. There is a tale-bearing spirit. If you see a man or woman going from ear to ear with some mischief-making story, some gossip which tends to wound or discredit another, suspect that person’s own character, regard him as an emissary of Satan. There is also a self assertive spirit which forgets the claims of others. We are all terribly apt to be overcome by that spirit, and love falls a speedy victim to it. Every spirit in the Church that is hostile to love we must destroy.
3. A refusal to be repulsed by a lack of love. An unloving Christian can only harm himself if others refuse to be influenced by him. There are two ways of treating sucheither as he treats you, which makes two wrong-doers instead of one; or to refuse to be overcome of evil, and to overcome evil with good. It is impossible that fervent love can long widely exist in a community, unless there be a general individual determination, in the strength of God, first, not to provoke, then if provoked, not to “render evil for evil, but contrariwise blessing.”
II. THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRISTIAN LOVE.
1. It expresses itself in different ways. Love speaks evil of no man, and thinketh no evil. Love is the “advocate of the absent.” Love gives; the homes of the persecuted were but slenderly stocked, they had often to endure the “spoiling of their goods;” but there was to be a place at the table and a room for the stranger who needed food and rest. Love speaksnot always, does not obtrude itself, but where there is an erring step or a listening ear, love speaks.
2. It is reciprocal. Each has his own gift, his own power of doing good; there is not a single member of Christ’s Church who is to be receptive only; for every gift each receives from another there is another he can give. This is the law, “By love serve one another;” “Edifying one another in love;” “We being many are one body, and every one members one of another.” All receiving, all bestowing, and doing both in love, that is God’s ideal of the Church on earth.
3. It recognizes that it holds all as stewards for God. “As good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” That raises our thoughts from the human to the Divine obligation; it calls us to the duty of love of the brethren, by reminding us of the claims of a higher love still. Sometimes our love to the brethren is not enough to constrain us to these tasks; self-love is strong within us, and sometimes our effort may be repulsed and our desire chilled by a cold response. It is unspeakably hard to get over the feeling, if one will not love he shall not be loved. But here is the antidote to thatthe apostle says we are to exercise our gifts with a view to God; service we could not render to others for their own sakes we can render for him.
III. THE END OF CHRISTIAN LOVE IS THE GLORIFYING OF GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. The possession and manifestation of Christian love glorifies God, and in so many ways.
1. In the manifestation of what most honors him amongst men. We think of 1Co 13:1-13. as the creed of the Church; it is the creed of the world, it is what the world believes in, what the world when it sees it recognizes as Divine. It cares nothing for our doctrines or systems; what it believes in is a manly, faithful loving-kindness; where that is it feels the power of God.
2. In the power with which it supplies others to glorify him. Probably to absence of love in the Church is due, more than to anything else, the defections from the Church. It is largely in the power of love to make others what they should be, to draw them into the Church if they are not in, and when they are, the quick eye of love should detect the first signs of wandering, and the gentle power of love restrain. The atmosphere of heaven is love, and when that is the atmosphere of the Church, God will be honored in the beauty of a piety which otherwise he seeks in vain.
3. In the opportunity it gives him of glorifying himself. Discord silences his voice and grieves his Spirit, and he needs to chasten us, and his Word becomes vain, and our labor vain. Brethren, “live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”C.N.
1Pe 4:12-19 – The joyous aspect of suffering for Christ a help to persecuted Christians.
The apostle is writing on the eve of the dreadful persecution of the Church by Nero, which was already beginning to be felt. The increased bitterness of those around them, and probably dark intimations from their teachers that the evil times predicted by Christ were nigh, tended to awaken very gloomy forebodings in the hearts of the converts. No wonder if they thought the trial strange; even to us with our larger knowledge it always seems strange that the good should suffer, and often so severely. Yet God says, “Think it not strange, but rejoice,” and that word “rejoice” is the key-word to the passage. There are three reasons here for this rejoicing.
I. THERE IS THE JOY OF FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST IN SUFFERING. Suffering for righteousness brings us into fellowship with Christ.
1. It is suffering for his sake. The persecuted partake of Christ’s sufferings. Some of our Lord’s sufferings were peculiarly his own, and could not be shared; but we participate in his sufferings when we suffer in the interests of his Church, the interests of righteousness, for the spread of his kingdom. Suffering is always suffering, but when we know it is for that for which our Lord suffered, and on which his heart is set, it is suffering glorified.
2. It is suffering by his side. We are never more conscious of his presence and sympathy than in suffering voluntarily endured for his cause. None ever suffered for Christ without loving him more.
3. It is suffering preparatory to his glory. Some of Christ’s servants do not think much of his coming again. That may be due to their not having fulfilled the tasks he gave them. His servants know when they have really tried to please him, and he knows it too, and this gives them confidence towards him, and makes them eager for his appearing.
II. THERE IS THE JOY OF GLORIFYING THE SPIRIT IN SUFFERING.
1. Be sure that yours is really Christian suffering. “Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as a busybody.” (Strange company that, by the way, for busybodies!) Is it not strange that Peter should suggest that Church-members might be guilty of such things? The fact is that the early Church contained many from the criminal classes, and some of them were too easily admitted to fellowship; their adhesion to Christ being simply an endeavor to atone for a life of misdeeds while the misdeeds secretly remained. Let us see to it that we do not take to ourselves the comforts of those who suffer for Christ’s sake, when we really suffer for our sins’ sake. It is not the suffering that makes the martyr, but the cause of it.
2. Yours be Christian suffering, its endurance glorifies the Spirit. “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.” The word “resteth” here is the same word our Lord uses when he says, “Come unto me and rest.” On the seventh day God rested from his works, but be also rested in them: “He saw all that he had made, and behold it was very good.” God in his works was satisfied. So the Spirit of God rests on the Christian martyr, for he sees his work therethe fruit of the sacred love he has inspired, of the sustaining grace he has imparted; and the gracious Spirit reposes in the glorious result of his mission.
3. Reproach becomes our glory rather than our shame. “If any man suffer as a Christian,” etc. Christian was a name of scorn at first, and Peter says, “Be not ashamed, glorify God in this name; respond to the reproach of earth by praise of heaven.” Why should we do this? Because in us at that moment the Spirit of God finds a resting-place. Do we not often forget the claims that gracious Spirit has on our service and our love? We owe all that Christ is to us, and all that the Father is to us, to him.
III. THERE IS THE JOY OF TRUSTING THE FATHER. “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it -first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” “The time is come that judgment,” etc. We understand these words when we remember that the Epistle was written before the awful judgment which terminated in the destruction of the ecclesiastical and civil polity of the Jews, which our Lord had foretold: “wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes,” as “the beginning of sorrows;” and added to his people, “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all men for my Name’s sake.” “And if the righteous scarcely [with difficulty] be saved,” etc. What fires of discipline, and what deep waters of sorrow, they have to go through to enter the kingdom] If this is what God’s children endure, what of those who are not his? If so heavy is the hand of chastening, educating love, what will the hand of judgment and wrath be! Christian, shrinking under the one, remember that you are delivered from the other. Trustfully acquiesce in the endurance of Christian suffering. This suffering is according to God’s will, the other is not, and can only be unmingled curse; but that of his people in the way of righteousness is his choice, he selects that, presides over it, tempers it, and leads it on to unmingled blessing. Here, then, is a fresh possibility of joy in suffering for Christthe joy of resting in the will of the Father. I)o we know anything of suffering for righteousness’ sake? Other sufferings we are each familiar with, but have we suffered for Christ? do we live a life of voluntary suffering for him? If not, I might say we have reason in that to wonder whether we are his followers at all. If we are strangers to Christian suffering, we are strangers to the deepest Christian joy. Christian joy is a flower which bears its fairest blossoms only when it grows on the grave where self lies buried – C.N.
HOMILIES BY U.R. THOMAS
1Pe 4:3-6 – Living to the will of God.
We have seen that the apostlethe large-hearted, sympathetic, experienced apostleis showing the scattered Christians he is addressing how to fortify themselves against the persecution that in stormful violence had fallen upon them here and there, before and since they became fugitives or exiles. This is part of a long paragraph beginning at the thirteenth verse of the last chapter, in which he is teaching that amid such persecution a good conscience is the only charm; that whatever befalls their circumstances or their bodily life, a consistent character will be as an asbestos robe enwrapping their spirits. Nothing can violate the charm of that good conscience, nothing burn or even singe the asbestos robe of that true character. Remember his defiant inquiry, “Who is he that can harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?” This he has been showing in many verses; and the possession of that charm, the possession of that character is the burden of his exhortation here. The key-note of this chapter isLive to the will of God.
I. LIVE TO THE WILL OF GOD. This is the lesson of man’s past evil life. St. Peter urges that “the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles.“ What was the desire of the Gentiles in time past? What they desired for themselves and others. The life of that century throughout the Roman empire, where these scattered Christians were, has never, perhaps, been equaled in the hideousness of its private and public vices. The names of the Emperors Tiberius, Gaius, and Claudius Nero are so many symbols of cruelty, lust, and buffoonery. The walls of Pompeii, the pages of the poets, the annals of the historian, all testify how voluptuous, how debased, how heinously immoral, were the desires of the Gentiles.
1. Lasciviousness; outrageous debauchery in general, including all that followwine-swillings, roysterings, revels, and the filthy festivals of idolatry. So many formsalas! scarcely exaggeratedof selfism prevalent in cultured and Christian England today. The apostle says, “The time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles.” There is deep sadness in the irony here about time past. And yet there is deeper hope, for the past is past, and need not return.
2. Sadness. Enough sin! and such sin as we have been gazing at! Enough; for such time pasthour, or day, or year, or yearswas simply
(1) A time of degradation to self. Men in such indulgences become coarse, vulgar, low, bestial.
(2) A time of imperiousness to others. Such a life was the breathing out of pollution into the social atmosphere; the opening up of fetid and poisonous fountains that pour forth disease and death.
(3) A time of rebellion. The human misery in scenes of riot and shame tell of Divine anger. Enough; let not the wheels of time bring back an hour of such life as that to you, my brother.
3. Hope. Time past may be left behind.
(1) There is forgiveness for time past. “Depths of the sea;” not shallow river, not near shore, where the tide may wash on to the beach.
(2) There is deliverance for time past. The charm of evil can be broken; the spell of wrong-doing can be dissolved. With all the energy you have, get away from that past time. The pirate bears down upon the vessel and captures her when her sails are down and she is making no headway. Oh, press on! “Escape for thy life!”
“Let the dead past bury its dead.
Act, act in the living present
Heart within, and God o’erhead.”
II. LIVE TO THE WILL OF GOD, NOTWITHSTANDING BAD MEN‘S WONDER AT GOOD MEN‘S CONDUCT. St. Peter said, nearly two thousand years ago, what can be truly said today, that worldly men, sinful men, sensual men, think it strange that Christian men do not run with them into the same excess of riot. Dissimilar characters often find it difficult to understand each other; the thoroughly corrupt man seems to find it impossible to understand the Christian.
1. He thinks his conduct strange, and so perhaps he ignores him altogether. He does not invite him to his carousals; he does not know him in society; still less is he on visiting or calling terms with him. He is an enigma he does not care to understand.
2. Or he thinks his conduct strange, and he is aggravated by it. He is contemptuous; he sneers; he tempts. He says about him, or to him, with curled lip, as he declines the wine-party, or gaming-talkie, or clubs of voluptuous pleasure. “Oh, you are ‘green;’ you are ‘soft;’ you are ‘melancholy;’ you’re not ‘half a man.'” And soon their irritation makes them scandal-mongers and slanderers, as were the pagan scandal-mongers and slanderers of -the early Christians.
3. Or, better far, he thinks his conduct strange, and it leads him to inquire. Wonder ends in respect, and respect in admiration, and admiration in imitation. Not a few of the men who have been reclaimed from lives of silly, not to say sensual, self-indulgence, began to climb the higher path and to breathe the purer air of Christian manhood because they saw a change come over some old companion that they at first thought strange, but soon found to be fascinating and ennobling. Who of you would not wish so to live that men should say, “We will go with you, for we have seen that God is with you”?
III. LIVE TO THE WILL OF GOD, FOR BOTH CHRIST‘S JUDGMENT AND CHRIST‘S GOSPEL ARE FOR ALL. The point the apostle is here pressing is that these bad menthese Gentiles and pagans of that day, who find their counterpart and succession in all worldly, sensual, selfish men of todaywill have to give account to him who will judge quick and dead. The last time he mentioned Christ it was as having ascended to the right hand of God; just before that, as having suffered and died and gone to Hades; now, as in the very order in which the Apostles’ Creed enshrines the great biography, he mentions him as judging the quick and the dead. All the living and all the dead shall stand at that tribunal. “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” But if all are to be judged, all must have the gospel preached to them; or the judgment would be partial, unjust, unrighteous. “Unto this end,” that is, that all may be righteously judged, all have the gospel preached to them. The gates of mercy are as vast as the seat of judgment; the cross of Christ is as stupendous as the great white throne. Hence the good tidings had been preached “to the dead.” “Spirits in prison’ were visited by the Redeemer; to the dead Christ goes with his boundless gospel of righteousness and mercy. The myriads in the Roman empire in Peter’s day who died without a single note of the evangel falling on their earsdied in gross corruption and bewildering superstitions of heathenism, are yet to be met with the offers of mercy, with the provisions of the gospel, and with the love of Jesus Christ. So that though according to the fleshtheir life on earththey were judged by men, and rightly judged, as evil and wicked men, they may, if they will yet receive the gospel preached to them, if they will read its blessed writing in the lurid light of the very flames of hell, yet be trophies of its unspeakable grace, and live to God in the spirit. Their life in the flesh was a ruin and a wreck, a scourge and a curse;so they are judged according to men. But, wondrous ray of hope! their life in the spirit may, after the purgings of those terrific fires, and through the influence of the gospel of our blessed Lord, yet become a life unto God.
That is the object and only sufficient end of the preaching of the good tidings of Christ anywhere and at any timenow and here, or then and yonder. Has it led us to live unto God, as the flower lives to the sun, turning to it to paint its petals and to distil its odors and to nourish its exquisite life; as the subject lives to his sovereign, in unflinching and loyal fidelity; as the child lives unto his parent, in loving, watchful, eager obedience? Some men are alive to pleasure, or gain, or ambition, or friendship, and no more. Are we alive unto God?U.R.T.
1Pe 4:7, 1Pe 4:8 – A solemn fact and urgent duty.
“But the end of all things is at hand,” etc. These words, which are part of the paragraph that ends with the eleventh verse, naturally follow the exhortation on 1Pe 4:3-6an exhortation to pure living, and this because our past life is long enough for sin and its vanities; notwithstanding that sinful men think your separation from them in spirit and conduct strange; and to pure living, because Christ’s judgment and Christ’s gospel are for all. The exact point in the argument is thisthat even to the dead was the gospel preached; and this is a deep fathomless mystery of justice and of grace. But however that may be, you are to remember and to realize, that “the end of all things is at hand,” etc. Here we note
I. THE PREDICTION OF A SOLEMN FACT. “The end of all things is at hand.” There are, as every student of the New Testament Epistles knows, great diversities of opinion as to the aspect of the transitoriness of all things on which Peter was now dwelling, and from which he was enforcing great lessons. It is clear that not only here, but all through his Epistles, he was deeply impressed with the transitoriness of all things. Glance back at the first chapter, and on: Sojourners“ a little while;” “time of your sojourning;’ “All flesh is grass,” etc. “Sojourners and pilgrims in the day of visitation.” Peter seems to have expected now a termination of human historyat least an approaching end of the age. He was old now, nearly seventy. He came to Rome on the eve of the conflagration of the city by Nero. He felt himself growing olda prisoner hounded on to the death of martyrdom like the Master who preceded him; and, getting to the end of all things, discerns in the corruptions of the Roman empire indications of ruin”the end of all things.” He discerns, too, the end of Judaism, of ceremonial, of institutions; germs perishing; and the scattering of Christians; the end of all things to the Churchpersonally, in the empire, in systems. Whether “the end” be “the end of the world” or “the end of the age, that is approaching, so far as we and all with whom we daily have to do are concerned, “the end of all things is at hand.” In our persons, homes, institutions, in the world itself, are elements of decay, indications of transitoriness. Yesterday, honors, old age, are carried to the grave; tomorrow, youth and hopeone shadow on all households; one and another and another join the majority. “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?”
II. THE CONSEQUENT CALL TO THE HIGHEST PERSONAL AND SOCIAL DUTY. The thought of the termination of our connection with all things produces different impressions on different minds. Epicureans both ancient and modern, as represented by Athens and England, have said, “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die!” “A short life, and a merry one,” is the maxim some formulate from their impression of all things passing away. Wiser, deeper, Heaven-taught natures draw an altogether other lesson. Here it is:
1. Personal. “Be of sound mind and sober,” etc – an echo (especially as the old version puts it of what Peter had heard from his Lord on the last evening of his life, and in discourses in which he portrays the great days of judgment. A memory which saddened him; for he had not watched “one hour” which he would give worlds to have back. The bitter experience of his fall had taught him his deepest need. “Sound mind;“ not volatile and fickle, and perhaps impulsive and fanatic. “Sober“ Another word than that which clears gluttony and drunkenness from the experiences of the Christian life; all temperance, all self-control, free from the intoxication of all inordinate excitement, whether the cause be alcohol or gold, appetite or ambition. “Unto prayer.“ This is the point to be touched, the focus through which life shall passthe concert-pitch note of prayerfulness. Prayer is both a means and an end. Here it is an end. Such nearness to Heaven is the secret of confidence in and submission to God.
2. Social. “Above all things.” This is all-comprehending and crowning social duty. Love aloneall alone. John, Paul, Peter, James.
(1) The character of love. Fervent or ardent. The cordial grasp of the hand; the tried and steady gaze of the eye; the eager step. of the foot. Unservile, unremitting; to mix and mingle with men whose vices jar, tastes annoy, cannot watch, nor yet love.
(2) The effect of love. “Covereth.” Some thought the text “justification by love,” covers a man’s own sinatones for it. Forgo such teaching; though “forgive as we forgive” shows that the condition of enjoying forgiveness is a true test of forgivenesscovers the sins of others.
(1) Overlooks;
(2) puts best interpretation upon;
(3) forgives;
(4) prevails by not provoking, not differing;
a better, truer spirit. As you have seen ivy covering twisted gnarled oak, defaced and scarred ruins, so let love be ever green, covering the multitude of sins that defame and deface and scar human nature on every side of you – U.R.T.
1Pe 4:9-11 – Christian love as a service.
“Using hospitality one to another,” etc. Here the apostle describes Christian love as a service. For as the word variously translated “minister“ and “deacon” denotes a servant, so the word “ministereth” here really conveys the simple thought of servicea thought which veins the beautiful marble of these two verses. This service is
I. UNIVERSAL IN ITS OBLIGATION. “As each hath received a gift.” That includes all, for all are gifted by God with some endowment or other. The man who has received no gift from God would be one not only without possession or influence, but without life; he is as nothing, and he is nowhere to be found. We have seen all through the Epistle some of Peter’s memories of his Lord’s teaching. Is there not here a recollection of the parable of the talents? In its light every gifted man is “a steward” (1Pe 4:10).
II. MANIFOLD IN ITS METHOD. All serve, but all serve in different ways. The service of love is not a dreary monotone, but the richest music; it embraces the full diapason of duty. It is “the manifold grace of God.” Some of the notes are here. “Using hospitality.” This is specially applicable to those to whom the Epistle was first written, i.e. “strangers of the dispersion.” It was, indeed, almost the earliest form of Christian charity. Peter finds it in Simon the tanner, Paul in Gains, etc. It is incumbent on men now in the midst of the yawning social distinctions, and of the ceaseless travel of today, Here is an echo of the teaching of the apostle’s Lord, “I was a stranger, and ye took me in.” “Without murmuring;” i.e. without grumbling. Three watch-dogs keep the door of the inhospitable man: temper, suspicion, reproach. “If any man speaketh.” Just as the hands put on the table viands for the body, the lips are to spread a banquet for the intellect and the heart. How? “As it were oracles of God.” That must mean with reality, with purity, with tenderness. “If any man ministereth.” This comprehends every form of service. It is a widening of the other two just mentioned. “As of the strength which God supplies.” That implies that the service will be rendered
(1) humbly,no pride, for he is a channel only, not a fountain;
(2) freely,no stint, or grudging, when God is the Source.
III. ONE IN PURPOSE. “That in all things God may be glorified.” Hospitality, teaching, almsgiving, all are to be for the glory of God. “Through Jesus Christ.” Had it not been for Jesus Christ, that kindness, activity, wisdom, liberality, would not have been. He awakened all. He is the Head from whom the life of love flows. “Whose is the glory and dominion, forever and ever. Amen.” This is not a note of conclusion, but of strong emotion. Reason, gratitude, love, all utter their deep “amen’ to the declaration that God through Christ has endless glory and dominion – U.R.T.
1Pe 4:12-14 – The fiery trial of the Christian.
“Behold, think it not strange concerning,” etc. Some have thought Peter is alluding to the burning of Rome, but both because the conception of suffering generally as fire is very common in the Old Testament Scripture, with which Peter shows himself familiar, and also because he is writing to Christians, upon whom through all parts of the Asiatic provinces of Rome the cruelties of Nero’s persecution were being in many ways wreaked, we conclude that “the fiery trial” is a wider and more scathing and more enduring conflagration than that which destroyed the imperial city. So the lessons here are of wide application. They cover the whole scope of Christian suffering.
I. THE CHRISTIAN MUST NOT RECKON HIS SUFFERINGS AS STRANGE. Tenderly, with the word “beloved,” Peter bids Christian sufferers not to feel themselves bewildered as men in a strange country. Do not let suffering shock you. Do not fear as you enter into the cloud. Why not? Because:
1. The sorrows the Christian shares in common with the world generally are not strange. His religion will not exempt him from bodily pain, business calamities, social bereavement, physical death.
2. The sorrows that Christians endure in persecution because they are Christians are not strange. Persecution is not to be wondered at. It is
(1) an instinct of evil men;
(2) in harmony with all history. The flippant dislike the real, the unclean are angry with the pure, the votaries of error are irritated with the teachers of truth, the wicked hate the good; hence the pains and penalties of persecution are not strange.
3. The sorrows that are the direct result of Christian spirit and character are not strange.
(1) Grief for sin and imperfection;
(2) compassion for the miserable;
(3) self-sacrificing sympathy for the vicious and wretched.
No. Trial is not “strange;” for:
(1) It meets the necessities of Christian character. “It cometh upon you to prove you.”
(2) It is in fulfillment of the repeated declarations of God‘s Word.
(3). It is in harmony with all the biographies of good men. The device on the Church’s shield is the bush that burns and yet is not consumed.
II. THE CHRISTIAN MAY FIND IN HIS SORROWS A CAUSE FOR PROFOUND JOY. To Peter, as well as his beloved brother Paul, the vast region of sorrow was not unknown or unexplored; they did not feel “strange” in it, as bewildered men in a foreign country. They had descried light on its hill-tope, drunk of streams in its deserts, plucked flowers in its solitudes, eaten manna in its wastes. How was this? They were “partakers of Christ’s sufferings.” Some of our Lord’s sorrows are infinite secrets. Some can be known and shared. Such as:
1. Agonizing sensitiveness to sire His sigh, tear, groan, we may know in our experience.
2. Sacrificial compassion for sinners.
3. Sternly self-denying loyalty to duty. In all these we may, we must as Christians, be partakers of Christ’s sufferings. “At the revelation of his glory.” These words speak of unspeakable future joy. To rejoice in the revelation of his glory, which will be the triumph of pity, of purity, of the mission to bless others, we must be partakers of his sufferings. Blessed now with reproach for his sake, we shall, by growing resemblance to him and gracious reward from him, be blessed then. “The Spirit of glory and of God resteth on you.” This token of the Divine presence not simply indicates the continuance of God with you, but the satisfaction of God in you. His spirit “resteth” upon you. The teaching is:
(1) God is near those who are partakers of Christ’s sufferings. The Spirit of God is with them.
(2) God is near them to glorify them, and himself to rejoice in them. “The Spirit of glory resteth.“ The music of the Beatitudes is ringing through Peter’s soul, and he flings out their consoling, inspiriting tones to all who were or ever shall be in the “fiery trial” through which all Christians pass. “Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”U.R.T.
1Pe 4:15-19 – Suffering, shameful and glorious.
“For let none of you suffer as a murderer,” etc. The apostle is still dwelling on the “fiery trial.” All trial to the Christian is a fire that
(1) gives great rain;
(2) destroys evil;
(3) purifies the good. Notice
I. SUFFERING FOR WRONG–DOING IS CERTAIN AND IS SHAMEFUL. “Let none of you suffer as a murderer,” etc. This is strange counsel to Christians. That it is thus given to them:
1. Reminds us of the classes from which the first converts were drawn. No doubt many were not only from the poorest, but from criminal, classes. Hence the apostle’s reminder after he has described some of the basest of characters, “Such were some of you.”
2. Suggests to us to be on our guard against sins to which before we became Christians we were addicted. The old taint is a peril. Perhaps tow now need fear being “murderers” or “malefactors,” but many may be on their guard against being “meddlers.” “Lay aside the sin that so easily besets.” “Them that obey not the gospel.” Here is another class whose sufferings will bring shame. The climax of judgment is for them. Who can tell what their” end” will be? “The house of God” is under his control, and all in it must suffer for their wrong-doing. Those who know the claims of the gospel, the possibilities it offers, and yet despise it and reject it, “do not obey it,” must have even severer suffering than Christians who have blundered into error or been overborne by evil, for they at least have
(1) resignation;
(2) hope of better life;
(3) conscious fellowship with a forgiving God.
II. SUFFERING FOR RIGHT–DOING MAY BEFALL US, BUT WILL BE A SOURCE OF GLORY. This Peter noted in earlier paragraphs, and reverts to again. “Suffer as a Christian,” that is, because he is a Christian. The very name was at first one of scorn. And the name of scorn has become a name that glorifies God. So with all the sufferings that the character of those who truly wear that name has ever brought upon them. Are they the sufferings of
(1) poverty,
(2) unpopularity,
(3) contempt,
(4) persecution?
They are sufferings none need be ashamed of, but in which they may, as the noblest of men have done, glorify God.
III. SUFFERING FOR RIGHT–DOING MUST BE ENDURED IN THE RIGHT SPIRIT. The words of the nineteenth verse, the final words about “the fiery trial,” are addressed to those who suffer because they are Christians.
1. They “suffer according to the will of God.”
(1) Because he wills it;
(2) along the course of his wise providence.
2. In such sufferings they are to “commit their souls, in well-doing unto a faithful Creator.” Here is the obligation of:
(1) Trust. “Commit;” deposit the treasure.
(2) Dutifulness. “In well-doing;’ keep on doing the right.
(3) Trust in and dutifulness towards God.
“Faithful Creator.” He knowshe cares: he will be faithful to his creation, and emphatically to the trustful ones. He who gave the soul its existence: and knows its capacities and needs, is its loving Guardian – U.R.T.
HOMILIES BY R. FINLAYSON
1Pe 4:1-6 – Coming to judgment.
I. THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST CARNIES WITH IT THE RESOLUTION TO SUFFER. “Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind.” Peter goes back to the starting-point, that from it, with practical instruction, he may go beyond the present session of Christ at the right hand of God, viz. to his coming to judgment. He does not say, “put to death in the flesh,” but more generally, to suit the condition of those whom he was addressing, “suffered in the flesh.” When it is said that he suffered, we are to understand that he did not avoid, but bravely faced, whatever suffering came to him in the way of righteousness. He armed himself with the resolution to suffer; and thus he was prepared for it when it came. Let us also arm ourselves with the same mind. Let us not, in the way of evil compliance, avoid suffering. Let us be resolved bravely to face whatever ordeal our God appoints; thus also shall we be prepared for it when it comes. When it is said that Christ suffered in the flesh, there may be, in the line of a former thought, a look beyond his past condition to his present condition. He is no longer in the flesh to suffer; so shall it soon be with us, that we are no longer in the flesh to suffer.
II. THE RESOLUTION TO SUFFER CARRIES WITH IT A BREAK WITH SIN. “For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” It is better to carry the third person through the whole, the second part being simply a further definition of the first. It is wrong also not to bring out the past tense, “he that suffered,” just as it was said “Christ suffered.” It is, however, introducing a foreign thought to suppose the meaning to be that, when Christ suffered, the person thought of suffered. The person to be thought of is one to whom at a previous stage and a critical stage in his history there was given the choice of suffering or not suffering. When he resolved to suffer, he very distinctly broke with sin. He said that he would rather suffer than sin. tie looked forward to the rest of his time in the flesh, and said that the rule of his life would no longer be the lusts of men (a rule variable and without authority), but the will of God (a rule invariable and having the highest authority). The “no longer” of sin along with “the time past of suffering” is to be explained by the fact that suffering commenced with conversion to Christianity.
III. THE BREAK WITH SIN IS NOT TO BE REGRETTED. “For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles, and to have walked in lasciviousness, lusts, wine-bibbings, revellings, carousings, and abominable idolatries.” The life according to “the desire of the Gentiles” is particularly described. It was a life in excesses, especially of impurity. It was a life in lusts, especially fleshly. It was a life in wine-swillings. It was a life in night-banquetings, after which the custom was to sally out into the streets “wakening the echoes with song and dance and noisy frolic.” It was a life in drinking-bouts. It was a life in idolatries that violated what was sacred (associated with many abominations). Peter’s readers were of Gentile extraction; for it is said that in time past they had wrought the desire of the Gentiles, and walked in the things mentioned, He adroitly founds on their experience, saying less than the reality in order to suggest the more. “The past may suffice; there is a figure in that, meaning much more than the words express. It is enoughoh, too much, to have so long, so miserable a life” (Leighton). We are reminded of Paul’s way of dealing with the Roman Christians, “For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things, whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.”
IV. THE NEW ARE A PUZZLE AND AN OFFENSE TO THE OLD. “Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.” The heathen a,e represented as rushing over the barriers that stand in the way of vicious indulgence: and they are astonished to find their former companions not rushing with them to the same goal. They are puzzled to understand the new principles from which they act, the complete revolution that has taken place in their ways of thinking and acting. And they are more than puzzled; they are offended. They take it as an affront that their company should not be thought good enough, and so they steak evil of them.
V. ACCOUNT IS TO BE GIVEN TO CHRIST AS JUDGE. “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.” Was it right for the Christians to withdraw? was it wrong for the heathen to resent their withdrawal? Yes; it would be as decided by Christ, to whom these evil-speakers would give account. Thus does the apostle return to his line of thought. So far from being crushed by death, Christ is to be gloriously active in the future on earth again, He is here represented as ready to judge the quick and the dead. He is to judge all without exception, He is ready to judge, as invested with all the authority and power that are necessary for judgment. At this moment, if the materials for judgment were complete, he could descend from heaven to hold the great assize.
VI. CONNECTION WITH JUDGMENT OF THE FORMERLY MENTIONED PREACHING TO THE DEAD. “For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” “Dead” is general; but we are not to think of all the dead. The word is properly limited by the connected language. The time is to be observedthe gospel was preached to the dead. And we are only to think of the dead with whom the language can be associated, that they had been judged according to men in the flesh. The reference seems to be simply to the antediluvians. They had been overtaken, not by death in the ordinary way; but, in the interests of humanity, it had been considered necessary that they should be swept from the face of the earth. This judgment according to man was not one with the final judgment on them. To them, after they had been judged thus on earth, in Hades the gospel was preached. The aim seems to be so stated as to throw the judging before the preaching. The expression of the aim as life in the spirit is very startling. This is far from being plain to us; and we have not the links that would enable us to connect it with judgment. We can only apply to Peter’s own writings the words he applies to Paul’s, “In which are some things hard to be understood.”R.F.
1Pe 4:7-11 – Duty in view of the nearness of the end.
I. NEARNESS OF THE END. “But the end of all things is at hand.” It is presupposed that all things are to come to an end, i.e. the Divine purpose in all things is to be brought forward to its completion. What gives this solemn significance to us, is that there is to be, in view of probation, a final relating of us to the purpose. How shall we stand related to the completion of all things? Stress is laid here on the time of the end. It is not revealed when definitely it is to bewhether it is to be today or a thousand years hence. In judging of the language employed, it is to be borne in mind that with the Lord “a thousand years are as one day.” Allowance is to be made for the great vividness of the language. The early Christians, taking some words of revelation too literally, thought the end of all things was to be in their day. We go to the opposite extreme, and put it far off. It is intended that the Church, in all times, should have a vivid realization of the end.
II. DUTY IN VIEW OF THE NEARNESS OF THE END.
1. Personal duty.
(1) Calmness. “Be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober.” The two verbs are to the same purport. The first points rather to governing considerations; the second points rather to the effect of governing considerations. Because the end is near, we are not to be imaginative, extravagant, unbalanced. We are to be free even from the intoxication of the coming glory; not driven to idleness, but bringing ordinary prudence to bear on our daily duties; not taking our pleasure, but rather being the more exacting on ourselves.
(2) Calmness unto prayer. “Unto prayer.” A calm mind is needed for prayer; prayer, again, reacts on the mind in making it calm. By prayer we quietly refer the determination of the future and of the end to God. The force of the plural seems to be that we are to connect prayer with every event as it transpires; thus shall we be prepared for the last event.
2. Relative duty.
(1) Ministering love in its intensity. “Above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins.” It is presupposed that we are to have love among ourselves; the essential thing is that this love is to have its proper intensity or warmth. Soon the end is to be upon us; why should there be any coldness or disagreements? The apostle does not enjoin without presenting sufficient reason. He goes back, as is his manner, on Old Testament language. “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins” (Pro 10:12). It is the latter clause that is made use of here, with the substitution of “a multitude of sins” for “all sins.” It is not difficult to catch the meaning. Where there is rancor or coldness there are constant occasions of variance; where there is good feeling there is a passing by faults in the spirit of forgiveness. For the removal of faults connected with brotherly intercourse, the Church must depend on the fervency of love.
(2) Ministering love in its manifestations. Hospitality. Using hospitality one to another without murmuring.” It is taken for granted that we are hospitable. There was greater opportunity when Christians had sometimes to leave their homes, to lose their employment, on account of their religion. Stress is laid here on the quality of this form of ministration. Let it be without murmuring, i.e. at the trouble and expense caused by the hospitality. There is a hint here, which is not unneeded. Our religion requires that we should give out of our means for its support and extension. When we thus give out of our means, in loyalty to our convictions, let us not spoil the giving by murmuring. Exercise of gifts. Rule for their exercise. “According as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” All that God graciously bestows on the Church is here called grace; particular manifestations are graces (the words being connected). The grace of God (summing up the particular manifestations, and implying their homogeneity) is manifold, i.e. the gifts graciously bestowed on members of the Church are very varied. Each hath received a gift, i.e. one or more. According to the kind of gift which each hath received we are to minister it. We are not to allow it to be unused; and the rule for its ministration is that we are to use it for the good of the Christian community. This proceeds on our being not absolute owners, but stewards of the gift. As God has bestowed the gift, he has the right to determine the use to which it is to be put; and he intends it for the service, not of the individual (which would be division), but of the society (which preserves unity). What, then, we have to aim at is to be good stewards, i.e. to have the excellence of stewardshipfidelity to our trust. Let us see that we faithfully carry out the intention with which the gift was bestowed on us. Application of the rule to speaking. “If any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God.” It is a complaint brought against Christian teachers that we assume too much. We assume the existence of God; we assume that the Bible has come from God. We do not argue about these things in the pulpit. We have warrant for taking this course. We proceed on the principle here laid down by the Apostle Peter. In speaking, we speak as it were the oracles of God, i.e. as uttering the Divine thoughts, as giving forth the truths presented to us in God’s book. And it is preaching that answers to this descriptionis an effective uttering of the Divine thoughts, opening of the meaning of Scripture, that is fitted to produce the best results. Application of the rule to doing. “if any man ministereth, ministering as of the strength which God supplieth.” We are not to think merely of official ministering. There is a ministering official and unofficial to the young, to the poor, to the sick, to the ignorant, to the erring. The rule for this ministering is here laid down. Whatever service we render to the congregation, or to any section of those who need to be cared for, we are to do it, not as out of our own store of strength, but out of the strength which God supplieth. It is by attention to this rule (difficult, for self will come in, even when we profess to be unselfish) that Christian service is to be purified and elevated. Let us seek, even in our ordinary services, to be filled with the thought of God supplying the strength. End contemplated in the rule. “That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” The speaking and the acting are both regulated so that, in all things embraced under these, God is to be glorified, and not we the speakers and actors. It is God’s thoughts we utter, not our own; and so God has the glory for these. It is God’s strength that we employ in service; and so it is to him that we ascribe the enabling power. It is only through Christ’s agency that we can either speak or act; and so when we glorify God, it is through him. The glory and the power we ascribe to God to the ages of ages. To this ascription let us add our hearty “Amen.”R.F.
1Pe 4:12-19 – Fiery trial among the Christians.
I. HAPPINESS CONNECTED WITH THE FIERY TRIAL.
1. The fiery trial not a perplexity. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you.” With an affectionate address the subject is appropriately introduced. There was a fierce trial not coming on them, as the old translation bears, but already in the midst of them, as the revised translation bears. The word used (“fieriness”) expresses the sharpness of the persecution to which they were subjected. They were mercilessly attacked in their dearest earthly interests. We do not know the details of the persecution; but it was a reality as of fire carried into the midst of the Christians, laying hold upon one here and upon another there, and distressing the whole circle. By severe suffering there has often been suggestion of the way of the Divine dealing. The apostle here supposes that they might be inclined to think it strange that they had the fire of persecution in the midst of the loved circle. The word expressive of the feeling of strangeness was formerly used with regard to the miraculous change of life introduced by Christianity. Former companions thought it strange that they did not continue to overleap the bounds with them. Now, the supposition is of them that did not overleap the bounds, but put on restraints, thinking it strange that the fire should be allowed to come among them. How did this consist with their Christian standing, character, destiny? Were they not the objects of covenant love? Were they not sincerely striving to honor the Divine ordinances? Were they not looking forward to a glorious, blood-bought inheritance? Why, then, was the fire working its work among them? It was justified, Peter points out, by its probationary use it was upon them, and not yet fully spent, not to pain them simply (which would be inconsistent with covenant love), but by its very painfulness to Trove them, i.e. to bring out their sincerity, and also their greater excellence, and therewith their deliverance from remaining impurity. The fire makes us feel the reality of life. It tends to make us thoughtful, earnest, humble. There is a knowledge of God, of Divine things, of the Divine promises, which enters only by the door of suffering. “Knowledge through suffering entereth.” It is as sufferers that we obtain the richest experience, even of the tenderness of God, and that our love in its greatest tenderness is drawn out towards him. Let us not, then, think the fire strange, even as though a strange thing were happening unto us. It is not strange when it works toward such an end. And we may trust the All-wise God to proportion the intensity of the fire to what our spiritual requirements are.
2. The fiery trial a rejoicing. “But insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy.” The apostle rises here to jubilation. Not merely is the fiery trial not a reason for bewilderment; it is even a reason for rejoicing. We are to rejoice in that we are partners with Christ; we are to rejoice in that we are partners with Christ even in his sufferings, i.e. those which he personally endured on earth. He endured the sharpness of persecution, ending in “the sharpness of death;” and what made his death so difficult to endure was not the fire of persecution, but the penal fire of God. There was a solitariness in Christ’s sufferings; and yet our sufferings can be joined to his sufferings, and it is an honor to have them so joined. We are to look even at the degree or measure in which our sufferings can be placed along with Christ’s sufferings. For there is the quantitative word usedmeaning “in proportion as.” There is thus exegetical value in the remark of Leighton, “What does the world, by its hatred and persecutions and railings for Christ, but make me more like him, give me a greater share with him in that which he did so willingly undergo for me?” The persecuting world thus in a way defeats itself; it makes the Christian suffer, but only to add to his joy in making him a greater sharer with Christ in what he suffered. “Rejoice,” then, is the word of command to the persecuted; but now the end of the present rejoicing is seized on. “Rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy.” There is a present rejoicing; there is also a future rejoicing; and the one is with a view to the other. Both, it seems to be implied here, and is certainly elsewhere taught, go upon partnership, and in this orderfirst partners with Christ in his sufferings, and then partners with Christ in his glory. The future rejoicing is to be at the revelation of Christ’s glory. There is a glory of Christ which is at present concealedconcealed from the world. There is even a glory of Christ which is not yet possessedthe glory expressive of the final vindication of his mission, the final triumph of his cause. Then he is to get glory from the saints; but then, also, he is to be in a position to bless his saints, without any hindrance, according to his heart’s desire, according also to the thought of the Father from all eternity; and he is to bless them by making them partners with him in his glory. Their very bodies raised are to take after his glorified body: how can it, then, be aught but Christ’s glory that is to shine forth in their spirits? The word for the present is “rejoice,” but at the revelation of Christ’s glory it is to be rejoicing with exceeding joy, rejoicing beyond the measure of the present, rejoicing far beyond our present power of conception. Now it is rejoicing in the midst of persecutions; then it will be rejoicing when the persecutions are all over for ever and sublimated, and the glorious realities are in actual possession.
II. THE CONDITION OF HAPPINESS EMPHASIZED.
1. Being reproached for the Name of Christ. “If ye are reproached for the Name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you.” The condition which has been implied is now expressed. There are reproachful words, and there are reproachful acts. To be reproached for the Name of Christ is to be interpreted in the light of our Lord’s own words, “In my Name, because ye belong to Christ.” We are not, then, to understand the Beatitude as connected with what Christians suffer in the ordinary course of providence, but with suffering that they could avoid but do not avoid because the Name of Christ does not permit it. Blessed are they who are not intimidated, who are willingly reproached, when it is demanded by Christian principle, nay, by loyalty to him who has been manifested as their Savior, and entitled to be served before and above every other. Blessed are they, because the spirit resting upon them is not the reproach-avoiding spirit of the world, but the Spirit of glory, who is also the Spirit of God. When Paul prays for the Ephesian Christians that they may have a worthy conception of the future glory, he calls God “the Father of glory” (Eph 1:17); so here Peter says that there rests upon the reproached for the Name of Christ the Spirit of glory, i.e. whose nature is glory, and who, according to his nature, imparts glory. Granted that they do not by worldly compliance avoid reproach: have they not infinite compensation in what the possessed Spirit of glory will yet make to shine forth in them?
2. The condition in what it excludes. “For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil-doer, or as a meddler in other men’s matters.” “For” is explanatory. Let the characterization of the condition be noted; for there is a suffering with which the Beatitude is not connected. “Let none of you [Peter is here directly personal] suffer for his own faults.” “Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or [generally] an evil-doer.” By the second “as” a fourth class is marked off by itself. “Let none of you suffer as a meddler in other men‘s matters;“ literally, “a bishop or overseer within what belongs to another.” The word, which may have been of Peter’s own coining, is sufficiently expressive. The Christian, with his superior knowledge, saw many things around him which needed to be rectified. Let him not thereby be betrayed into stepping beyond his proper sphere. Thus meddling, he was not to be classed with the evil-doer; but for his interference he might suffer heavily enough.
3. The condition further elucidated. “But if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name.” This verse is remarkable for the introduction of a name which occurs in only two other places in the New Testament. At first the followers of Christ were confounded with the Jews; when the distinction could be made, they were very naturally named Christians. This was the name current when Peter wrote. It was a name which exposed its bearer to suffering. But if he suffered in this name, let him not consider himself disgraced. He was disgraced if he suffered as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or even as a meddler; but not if he suffered as a Christian. On the contrary, says Peter, “let him glorify God in this name.” He might have said, “Let him consider himself honored,” but, going beyond that, his thought is, “Let him render the honor of such suffering to God.”
III. UNHAPPINESS CONNECTED WITH DISOBEDIENCE.
1. The order of judgment. “For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?” This follows up not being ashamed, but glorifying God. There is to be, in accordance with 1Pe 4:7, which is not yet lost sight of, a speedy rectification of things. There is the actual arrival of the time for judgment to begin. With this there is a passing on to the order of judgment. The object of judgment is first the house of God, i.e. believers collectively. The language is taken from the temple at Jerusalem, which was probably still standing. The objects of judgment are nextthey that obey not the gospel of God. We are not to think of those with whom the gospel has not been brought into contact. We are rather to think of men refusing the gospel when presented to them. We are especially to think of men showing active hostility to the gospel as persecutors. The gospel is here called “the gospel of God,” not as coming from the heart of God, but rather as that with which God has to do in judgment in respect of the treatment it receives. There is judgment upon the house of God. We are not to think of condemnatory judgment, but rather of the corrective judgment referred to in 1Co 11:32, “But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” The judgment was to be regarded as taking place in the persecutions to which they were subjected as belonging to the house of God. These were fitted to remind them of their sins, their shortcomings. Because they were not pure enough, the fiery trial was sent upon them to act as a refiner‘s fire, separating the unworthy, and also from the genuine all unworthy elements. There is also to be judgment upon them that obey not the gospel of God. This is of the nature of condemnatory judgment. There is to be final judicial dealing with them for their ungodly deeds, for their hard speeches. There is especially to be final judicial dealing with them for the treatment they have given the gospel, the preachers of the gospel, the Christian communities, the Christian members. Stress is laid on the order of the judgment. The starting-point is noted. It begins at, or from, the house of God. The language is used in Eze 9:6, “Begin at my sanctuary.” Upon this an argument is founded. It is similar to what is found in Jer 25:29, “For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my Name, and should ye be utterly unpunished?” The argument has a consolatory side to them that belong to the house of God. “If it begin first at us,” says Peter, referring to himself and the persecuted to whom he wrote. It was only to begin first at them; it was not to stay with them. It was to pass on to them that obeyed not the gospel of Godand how? We may understand, with increasing severity; for the question is ominously asked, “What shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?” They experienced the beginnings of the storm: what would be their experience upon whom the storm, gathering volume as it proceeded, at last burst in all its fury?
2. Old Testament reference. “And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?” The reference is to Pro 11:31, “Behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.” The language is properly from the imperfect Septuagint rendering. The singular individualizes. The righteous is he who stands in a right relation to God. The New Testament bearing is he who stands in right relation to God in view of the revelation made in the gospel. The Old Testament equivalent to “obeying not the gospel of God,” is “the ungodly and sinner,” i.e. he who has not the fear of God on him, and therefore acts presumptuously. It is said of the righteous that he is scarcely saved. Two men have a task assigned to themclimbing a hill; the task to be accomplished in a given time. It would require of both all their might to reach the top in the given time. One sets himself to it, and when the time expires he has scarcely reached the top What is to be said of the other, who all the time has gone after his own pleasure? God has assigned to all, as he has a right to assign, a task; this task is the salvation of the soul. To accomplish it in the time appointed requires working with all the might. Here is one who sets himself to the task. He works while it is day; and when the night of death comes down on him the task is scarcely accomplished, there is still purification that needs to be done. It is not said of him that he shall not appear before God in the issue of judgment; rather may we understand that he shall appear, though there may be withheld from him the highest reward in the presence of God. Here is another who misjudges life, who spends the day of grace in idleness and pleasure, who has not fear for the God who is to judge him, who throws off restraints. This ungodly man and sinner, where shall he appear? The question is ominously left unanswered; but we may take the answer as given in the first psalm, “The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”
IV. CONCLUSION SHOWING HOW THEY WERE TO DO UNDER THE FIERY TRIAL. “Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator.” “Also” is to be connected with “wherefore,” and is to be taken as indicating something additional in the way of conclusion. By the will of God we are to understand, not so much the Divine appointment, as the Divine requirement. It is the will of God that we should suffer even as confessors and martyrs rather than deny Christ. Let them that thus suffer according to the will of God follow this course. Let them commit their souls to God. Thus it was with him who pre-eminently suffered according to the will of God. In dying he said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Let them commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator. There can be a falling back, not only on Fatherhood, but even on Creatorship. In creating us he constituted us so that in a course of well-doing we should be happy. Let us do well, and we may be assured that God wilt be faithful to his part of the covenant. “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shall call, and I will answer thee; thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands“ (Job 14:14, Job 14:15) – R.F.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
1Pe 4:1. Forasmuch then, &c. “I have already observed, that Christ suffered, though he was perfectly innocent: as therefore Christ, your great Lord and Master, hath suffered for you in the flesh, do you also wear the same spirit, as armour; (Eph 6:11.)conscious that you ought to suffer for the truth, if called thereunto: for it is rationally to be supposed, that he, who has uponthis account suffered in the flesh, hath ceased from leading an unholy life, and is resolved to live, during the residue of his abode in the flesh, not in conformity to the lusts of men, but to the will of God,” 1Pe 4:2. Dr. Bentley would read these verses thus; As Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind; for he that suffered in the flesh, hath died for our sins, 1Pe 4:2 that we should no longer live in the flesh, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Pe 4:1 . [ ] ] In these words the apostle returns to chap. 1Pe 3:18 , in order to subjoin the following exhortation.
is not: “ in the flesh” (Luther), but: “ according to the flesh ;” comp. 1Pe 3:18 . This is made prominent because the believer’s sufferings, too, under persecutions, touch the flesh only; comp. Mat 10:28 . is not to be limited to the suffering of Christ before His death, but comprehends the latter also. It is, however, incorrect to understand, with Hofmann, at once as identical with , and in connection with to explain: “that Christ by His life in the flesh submitted for our sake to a suffering which befell Him that for our sake He allowed His life in the flesh to come to an end”(!).
] with reference to Christ; “ ye also :” the disciple must be like the master. It lies to hand to translate (besides here, only in Heb 4:12 ) as equivalent here to “disposition of mind” (de Wette; Weiss, p. 288); but means always “ thought, consideration ” (Wiesinger, Schott). [231] There is here also no reference to the mind of Christ in His sufferings, refers back to the of Christ Himself, so that the sense is, that since Christ suffered according to the flesh, they too should not refuse the thought of like Him suffering according to (or on) the flesh, gives the ground of the exhortation. Hofmann, Wiesinger, and Schott take as explaining . . Incorrectly; for the will not admit of an application to Christ, inasmuch as the expression does not presuppose generally a former “relation to sin,” but former sinning itself.
The verb , in the N. T. . . , is in classical writers often construed with the accus. (Soph. Electra , v. 991: ); while applied to every kind of equipment, e.g. of ships, it here refers to the Christian’s calling as one of conflict.
] In Luther’s translation: “for he who suffers on the flesh, he ceaseth from sin,” the present is incorrectly substituted for the preterite tense: ; correctly: “ on the flesh.” Hofmann’s rendering is wrong: “ in the flesh,” which, compared with the preceding, would imply “that whilst Christ’s life in the flesh ended with His suffering, our sufferings took place with continued life in the flesh”(!). The reading , “according to the flesh,” conveys the same idea; cf. Winer, 384 (E. T. 513).
] The mid. is in the classics frequently joined with the genitive, e.g. II . vii. 290: ; Herod , i. 47: ; Herodian . vii. 10, 16: . In this way here is explained by most interpreters as equivalent to: “he has ceased from sin, that is, he has given up sinning.” The word may also be taken as the perf. pass. according to the construction , equivalent to: “to cause one to give up, to desist from a thing.” would then mean: “he has been brought to cease from sin, to sin no more” (Schott: “brought away from sinful conduct”). Hofmann erroneously asserts that “ would in a quite general way mean: action such as brings it about that the individual is ended with sin;” that is to say, in the sense, that his relation to sin is at an end. [232] For the genitive with denotes always a condition or an activity of him who is the object of .
It makes no essential difference in the thought whether be taken here as a middle (Weiss) or as a passive (de Wette, Wiesinger). The idea: “ through Christ immunitatem nactus sum,” is expressed here neither in the one case nor in the other (Wiesinger).
The clause here has the form of a general statement, the meaning of which is, that by suffering as to the flesh a ceasing of sin is effected. [233] This idea, in many respects a true one, may according to the connection be defined thus: he who suffered on account of sin, that is, on account of his opposition to sin, has in such wise broken with sin that it has no more power over him (Weiss). It is incorrect, with several of the earlier commentators, as also Schott, to understand in a spiritual sense, either of the being dead with Christ in baptism, according to Rom 6:7 (Schott), or of the putting to death of the old man (Gerhard: qui carnem cum concupiscentiis suis in Christo et cum Christo crucifigit, ille peccare desinit; Calvin: passio in carne significat nostri abnegationem). Opposed to such an interpretation is the subjoined , by which this here is expressly marked as identical with the , used with reference to Christ; and the apostle in no way hints that that is employed in a spiritual sense. It is evidently entirely a mistake to understand by Christ, as Fronmller does,
. . being thus in no way appropriate (doubtless Jachmann explains: “because Christ hath removed sin for Himself, that is, hath shown that it is possible to be without sin”(!)); nor is it less so to assume, finally, with Steiger, that here “the apostle unites together the different persons, the head and the members in their unity,” so that the clause would contain the double idea: “Christ suffering as to the body made us free from sin,” and: “we, by participating through faith in the sufferings of Christ, die unto sin.” Hofmann, too, unjustifiably gives the clause the double reference to Christ and to the Christians; to Christ, “in as far as He by His bodily death was finished with sin, which He took upon Himself for the purpose of atoning for it;” to the Christians, “in so far as he is spiritually dead whilst still alive in the body, and so is translated into a life in which he goes free from the guilt and slavery of sin.” In these interpretations thoughts are supplied to which the context makes no allusion. [234]
[231] Reiche erroneously appeals in support of this meaning: “disposition of mind,” to the passages in Pro 5:2 ; Pro 23:19 , LXX., and Wis 2:14 .
[232] Thus, too, Schott: “He who has experienced the is delivered from his former relation to sin.” But Schott admits that “a release from sin must be thought of, in so far as sin determined the conduct and made it sinful .”
[233] Genuinely catholic is the remark of Lorinus on . : Peccatorum nomine absolute posito gravia intelliguntur, quae vocamus mortalia; nam desinere atque quiescere a levibus et venialibus, eximium privilegium est, praeterque Deiparam definire non possumus, an alii ulli concessum.
[234] Reiche regards the entire sentence as spurious, because of the difficulty and indistinctness of the thought.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
1Pe 4:1-6
Analysis:Exhortation to being armed with the mind of the sufferings of Christ, and to killing the flesh in order to make room for the life of the spirit
1Forasmuch then1 as Christ hath suffered for us2 in the flesh, arm yourselves3 likewise with the same mind: for4 he that hath suffered in the flesh5 hath ceased6 from 2sin; That he7 no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.8 3For the time past of our life may suffice9 us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when10 we walked in11 lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, 4banquetings, and abominable12 idolatries: Wherein13 they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot,14 speaking evil of you: 5Who shall give 6account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For, for this cause15 was the gospel preached also to them that are dead,16 that they might be judged17 according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1Pe 4:1. Christ then, having suffered for usdo you also arm yourselves with the same mind. takes up again 1Pe 3:18, and shows that the subject developed in 1Pe 3:19-22 is governed by the reference to the sufferings of Christ. , for our benefit and in our stead, cf. 1Pe 3:18.; Roos rightly remarks that Peter never uses in the bad sense in which Paul has used it several times, but only as denoting the weak, mortal nature belonging to our earthly condition.; Wiesinger [and Calvin, Beza, Gerhard, Bengel and Erasm.-Schmidt.M.] render it thought, but it denotes as much as mens, mind, intent, resolution, as appears from a passage from Isocrates, cited by Riemer. [ [ ] , [], , ; see also Eur. Hel. 1026; Diodor. Sic. II. 30.M.] Exhibit a manly, constant readiness (intent) to suffer innocently for the sins of others and for their benefit (yet not vicariously) with the purpose, as much as you are able, to remove sin and to conduct, souls to God., cf. Rom 13:12; 2Co 10:4; Eph 6:11; use this purpose as a shield against temptation to sin.
[Arming oneself with a thought, without the intent or resolution of using it as a piece of armour for defensive warfare, conveys no very clear idea. The aforesaid commentators, who render , thought, and , that, are clearly embarrassed about and , which are decisive for the interpretation given in the text. Do ye also arm yourselves ( ) with the same ( ) mind, viz.: put on the purpose to suffer in the flesh, as Christ did, as a piece of armour. This strikes us as being far more to the point than the paraphrase of Amyraut: Mais encore nous nous devons armer de cette bonne pensie contre toutes sortes de tentations au mal. que celui qui a soufftrt en cette nature humaine, na desormais plus de commerce avec le pch or the interpretation of Gerhard: rectius accipitur expositive, expoint enim Apostolus illam cogitationem qua nos vult armari: hc cogitatio erit vobis uistar firmissimi scuti et munimenti contra peccatum. It is, moreover, difficult to make good sense of these interpretations, unless the thought be clothed with intent.M.]
must not be joined with , as specifying the substance of this thought, this would require instead of ,but it defines the exhortation more closely. [Rendering because, as Alford does, makes his paraphrase very forcible, and ye will need this arming, because the course of suffering according to the flesh which ye have to undergo ending in an entire freedom from sin, your warfare with sin must be begun and carried on from this time forward.M.]
Because He that hath suffered as to the flesh hath rest from sin. , it appears to me, is best applied to Christ Himself; the expression then connects closely with that which precedes, and defines it. For He who has once suffered as to the flesh, which suffering includes His death, as in 1Pe 3:18, has now rest from sin, He is fortified against all its assaults. [ means to suffer according to the flesh. Winer, p. 431. The Dative, relating to things, denotes that in reference to which an action is done, or a state exists. Winer, p. 228.M.] He has died unto sin once, as Paul expresses it in Rom 6:10; Rom 6:7. Hence, he who puts on His mind, and is in communion with Him, henceforth must serve sin no more. The Aorist denotes an action once existing, but having now absolutely passed away. All other explanations are liable to many grammatical and psychological objections. Weiss: He that suffers on account of sin, because of opposition to sin, thereby breaks with sin, and testifies that he will no longer obey the will of the world. But the Aorist , not the Present is used; again, many experiences might contradict the general statement, and the exhortation which follows would seem to be superfluous.Others are compelled to have recourse to arbitrary supplements. So Steiger: Christ suffering bodily freed us from sin, and we, participating by faith in the sufferings of Christ, die unto sin. Grotius and others, contrary to all grammatical usage, understand the passage of the crucifying and the mortification of fleshly lusts.
1Pe 4:2. To the end that. ye should not.Join with , not with , which concludes the parenthesis. Acquire the mind which has done with sin, so that your relation to sin may be that of one who has died and is risen again, as that of Christ after His exaltation, 1Pe 3:21-22.
To the lusts of men, not to be taken as = fleshly, worldly lusts in general (, , Tit 2:12; Rom 12:2), not as in 1Pe 1:14; 1Pe 2:11, but in a narrower sense with reference to 1Pe 4:4, denoting the desire of worldly-minded men, that believers also ought to live as they do, and that they ought not to single themselves out at the worlds disposition to coerce them also to serve its idols. The will of God alone ought to be our pole-star. The Dative is the dativus commodi, to live to some one=to devote to him ones life, to place oneself at his service, cf. 1Pe 2:24; Gal 2:19.
The rest of your time in the flesh,=the time of our pilgrimage, as in 1Pe 1:17. This is to indicate that our earthly life constitutes only a small part of our existence, and that to individual Christians, after their conversion, only a brief term of grace is allotted. But there is also a reference to what follows.
1Pe 4:3. For sufficient is the past timeto have wrought the will of the Gentiles. sc. .The following Infinitive depends on these words; the time past is sufficient to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. Here is an implied irony. If you believe that you are debtors to the flesh (Rom 8:12), and obliged to serve sin, surely you have done enough, and more than enough of it, you have abundantly done your duty in the service of sin. Grotius quotes a passage from Martial: Lusistis, satis estyou have played, it is enough. This lessens the severity of the reproach. Otherwise Bengel, who avers that penitents are seized with a loathing of sin.
.(The Text. Rec. has ). On the demands made upon them by the heathen, among whom they were obliged to live, cf. 1Pe 4:2. Suppose that the readers of Peters Epistle had been formerly heathens, his reproaching them with having formerly done the will of the Gentiles would surely be singular. This passage, therefore, renders it highly probable that he was addressing Jewish Christians, who, belonging to the chosen people of God, and having received extraordinary revelations, ought so much the less have placed themselves on a level with the heathen. Paul also reproaches the Jews with their heathenish, vicious life, Rom. ii. Only the expression might militate against our view.=things forbidden by, wrong and wicked before laws human and divine, especially opposed to the law of the Old Covenant, Act 10:28. It is asked, Where is the evidence of such open participating on the part of the Jews of that time in such heathen iniquities? Weiss replies that the expression is susceptible of a wider meaning, that the use of the Plural intimates an enlarged application of the term, cf. Eph 5:5; Col 3:5; Php 3:19, and that relates to persons on whom the law of the Old Covenant was obligatory. Grotius calls attention to their participation in the common meals of heathen communities. Those who are not satisfied with these explanations may reflect that individual former heathen may have joined those Jewish Christian congregations. [On the other hand, the strong expressions used by the Apostle seem to contemplate a great deal more than isolated participation in heathen wickedness and abomination. There is absolutely no evidence that the Jews ever went so far as the language employed indicates. Moreover, there is nothing absurd, or even strange, in the Apostles reproach, if addressed to Gentile Christians; they had doubtless intimate relations with their friends in heathenism, and the danger of relapsing into their abominations must have been ever present, at all events, it was as great as that of modern Christians, from intercourse with worldly and ungodly people, of relapsing into the ways of an ungodly world.M.] allude? to sexual sins.
Walking (as ye have done) inidolatries. like = Luk 1:6; Act 9:31; 2Pe 2:10. Calov: Not only because life is compared to a journey, but also in order to denote the eagerness with which they go on from sin to sin., licentious practices, the outbreaks of intemperance, and excesses of every kind, while denote hidden sins of voluptuousness, inward unchastity and lewdness, where the power to indulge in outward acts is wanting.; to bubble up, overflow like boiling water, intoxication., cf. Rom 13:13; Gal 5:21, festive processions on days sacred to Bacchus, characterized by wild revelling, licentious songs and jests, and folly in general. Then banqueting, convivial carousing, terminating, as Eustathius remarks, in deep sleep., particularly drinking in common, drinking-bouts.
1Pe 4:4. At whichspeaking evil of you. relates to . Suffering it to suffice, and giving up your former course, seems strange, and is altogether inexplicable to them. The fuller meaning is brought out by , because you no longer join them and run with them. , probably a place reached by the sea at the flood-tide, the flowed-out water forming a pool or puddle. from , without salvation, past redemption, hence extravagant, voluptuous, profligate manner of life, Eph 5:18; Tit 1:6; Luk 15:13; into which formerly they had thrown themselves, and dragged you.
[Wordsworth:A strong and expressive metaphor, especially in countries where after violent rain the gutters are suddenly swollen and pour their contents together with violence into a common sower. Such is the Apostolic figure of vicious companies rushing together in a filthy conference for reckless indulgence and effusion in sin, cf. Juvenal, 3, 63, Jam pridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes, etc., and G. Dyers Description of the Ruins of Rome, 4:6266.M.]
.Grotius:Of Christians as those who leave civil society; Calov:Of the Christian religion, because it leads to a different manner of life. The two ideas may be combined.
1Pe 4:5. Who shall give accountdead.Let not their evil speaking confuse you, they will have to render account. . He is fully prepared, all the means and necessary conditions are already in His hand, as described in Psa 7:12-17. , cf. Act 10:42. None can escape the judgment, it comprehends all, no matter whether at the appearing of the Judge one is alive or dead; and it may come at any moment. Where the Apostles did not treat expressly of the time of Christs advent, they were wont to describe it as immediately impending.
1Pe 4:6. For to this end was the Gospel preached even to them that are dead.This evidently goes back to the important passage, 1Pe 3:19-20. The Apostle meets the objection: Can the dead also be judged? Yes, and for this very purpose Christ, as aforesaid, preached the Gospel in Hades to the dead. This is the most natural connection. Bengel takes it in conjunction with , the Judge is ready, for the end must come after the Gospel has been preached. Steiger: The verse is to prove not the reality, but the moral possibility, the justice of a judgment even on the dead, since the Gospel was preached to them also for the purpose of giving them the means of being delivered from the wrath of God. So Weiss and Wiesinger. in our exposition is not to be taken generally, as 1Pe 4:5, but as applying to those spirits in prison; these are adduced by way of example, from which we may draw a conclusion affecting all other dead men, who before Christ were surely as yet more or less in prison. 1Pe 3:19, explains ; cf. Mat 11:5; Rom 10:15. The above-mentioned example is therefore simply to prove the universality of the judgment as extending also to the dead; that it is just, is a secondary point. But what is the object of that preaching which was vouchsafed to the dead and particularly to the dead of the deluge?
That they might indeed be judgedas to the spirit.Various expositions, arising from dogmatical prejudices, have been set up with regard to this passage, which we do not refute in this place. The right exposition depends on the correct meaning of . The tense is designedly different from in the corresponding secondary sentence. The Aorist as contrasted with the Present points to some past action; it is used of past actions, see Winer. after refers to something subsequent to the preaching of the Gospel. This apparent contradiction is solved, if is taken to denote a judicial sentence, as such decisions are made by human tribunals (). On Christs appearing in the realms of death and preaching to them repentance and faith, the declaration that was to be published to them was as it were thus: You have merited death both as to the body and to the soul, because of your disobedience you perished in the flood and were brought to this subterranean place of confinement; but a way of salvation has now been opened for you, so that you may live in the spirit as to God, according to the will of God. This declaration, on the one hand, must have produced a painful impression upon them, but on the other, encouraged them to accept the offered salvation. However we are not informed whether few or many [or any.M.] did thereby attain unto spiritual life. The apposition beginning with relates not to 1Pe 4:5, but to 1Pe 3:19, thereby shedding more light on the latter passage. How forced, as contrasted with this exposition, is that of Hofmann, that salvation was published to the dead in order that they might secure a life surviving the judgment of death which they have incurred and must continue to incur, or that of Wiesinger, that the Gospel was preached to the dead for the purpose of shaping their condition so that, while on the one hand they are judged according to the flesh (the state of death viewed as a continuing judgment according to the flesh), on the other they might be able through the judgment (Aorist) to attain, in Gods way, to the immortal life of the spirit. Nor is the view of King more admissible, that in the resurrection their judgment in the body should consist in their receiving a less perfect resurrection-body. For other expositions consult Steiger and Wiesinger. [See also the Excursus on the Descensus ad Inferos at the end of the preceding section.M.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The common view, which is shared also by Gerlach, sees in 1Pe 4:1, the leading idea, that to the Christian, in virtue of the communion of his heart and life with Christ, suffering in the flesh is the dying of sin. So early an expositor as Justin says: Suffering and temptation, like a medicine, render man more free from his evil intent, and make him more sound. Tauler: What the fire is to iron, what the crucible is to cold, such is temptation to the righteous. But this is introducing the Pauline doctrine of the communion of suffering with Christ, although the original contains no allusion to it; besides the circumstance is lost sight of, that the original says who hath suffered, not who is suffering. According to the exposition given above, it should be the aim of believers not to let the sins of others find a point of support in themselves in order that not sinning after the example of Christ may become their second nature.
2. The abuse which the ungodly cast on the former companions of their sin has its final reason in the circumstance that they feel themselves reproved, opposed and judged by their conversion.
3. Holy Scripture nowhere teaches the eternal damnation of those who died as heathens or non-Christians; it rather intimates in many passages that forgiveness may be possible beyond the grave, and refers the final decision not to death, but to the day of Christ, Act 17:31; 2Ti 1:12; 2Ti 4:8; 1Jn 4:17. But in our passage, as in 1Pe 3:19-20, Peter by Divine illumination clearly affirms that the ways of Gods salvation do not terminate with earthly life, and that the Gospel is preached beyond the grave to those who have departed from this life without a knowledge of the same. But this proves neither the doctrine of universal recovery, even that of Satan, the devils and the ungodly, nor the doctrine of purgatory to the cleansing of which the Romish Church affirms subjected all who reach the other world without being wholly purified, and further maintains, that the stay in it may be shortened by the performance of many good works in this life and even after death by the performance of good works and prayers for the dead on the part of survivors. Gerlach cites a passage from John Damasc., in which the doctrine of the ancient Church on the subject of Christs descent into hell is summed up as follows: His glorified soul descends into Hades in order that like as the Sun of righteousness did rise to men on earth, so in like manner He might shine on those who under the earth sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; in order that as He did publish peace to men on earth, gave deliverance to the captives and sight to the blind, and became the Cause of eternal salvation to believers, while He convicted the disobedient of unbelief, so in like manner He might deal with the inhabitants of Hades, so that to Him every knee should bow of those who are in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and that having thus loosed the chains of those long-confined prisoners, He might return from the dead and prepare to us the way of the resurrection. The divine truths contained in this passage may be abused against the cause of missions and the necessity of a holy life; but abuse does not cancel the right use.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The Christians best armour against the assaults of suffering is the believing, obedient and submissive mind of suffering in which Christ accepted His suffering as a cup tendered by the paternal, hand of God.Gods chief design in sending suffering is to withdraw us from sin and the lusts of men up to Himself.Sufferings under persecution and abuse are a means of purifying and refining.Which are the dangers against which we ought to be especially armed under persecutions for righteousness sake?Consider the comforting fact that Christ has suffered in the flesh for you. Look, 1. at His person; 2. at the greatness of His suffering in the flesh; 3. at His suffering for you; 4. at the result of it.Preservatives against relapsing into heathenish ways: 1. the communion with and conformity to Christ; 2. frequent reflection on your former sinful condition; 3. the abuse of unbelievers; 4. the nearness of the impending account to be rendered: 5. prayer; 6. continuance in the communion of love with the brethren; 7. the founding of all your actions on the word and strength of God.The unhappy consistency in the service of sin.Will you continue in the service of sin, although Christ came to save you?The appearing of Christ among the dead is both the last degree of His condescension and the turning-point of His exaltation.The mercy of God extends even to the judgment-prison of the realms of death.Who will preach to the untold thousands, who after Christs descent into Hades have been born and have died without a knowledge of the Gospel?Why should that fact not check, but rather strengthen missionary zeal?
Starke:Shall the disciple be greater than his master, and the servant greater than his Lord? Be content, if in the world it fares with you as with your Saviour, it is enough that you shall be like Him in heaven. Mat 10:24-25.Will you fret at sufferings and tribulations? If you knew the wholesomeness of this cup, you would joyfully empty it, Eze 2:6.The beloved cross is like strong salt: as the latter prevents corruption, so does the cross prevent the corruption of the flesh, Psa 119:71.Sin at a standstill is the well-being of sinners, continuance in sin the strongest barrier against grace, the best repentance is never to sin.Christianity renders the best, service to the commonwealth, in that it most earnestly forbids the vices which are most dangerous to it.The children of the world grieve most at your separating from their communion; by that they consider themselves put to shame and despised. Haughtiness and venomous malice are the sources of their abuse.The remembrance of the last day and its judgment ought to be to us a constant sermon on repentance, Ecc 12:13-14; 2Co 5:10.
Lisco:The blessed effect of suffering.The Lords miracles of grace in His kingdom. The sufferings of Christ present us with a strong motive to arm ourselves with His mind.
[Pythagoras:
1Pe 4:1. Summa religionis imitari quern colis.M.]
[Leighton:Love desires nothing more than likeness, and shares willingly in all with the party loved; and above all love, this Divine love is purest and highest and works most strongly that way, takes pleasure in that pain, and is a voluntary death, as Plato calls love.M.]
[Atterbury:Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, let us arm ourselves with the same mind, with a resolution to imitate Him in His perfect submission and resignation of Himself to the Divine will and pleasure; in His contempt of all the enjoyments of sense, of all the vanities of this world, its allurements and terrors; in His practice of religious severities; in His love of religious retirement; in making it His meat and drink, His only study and delight, to work the work of Him that sent Him; in His choosing for that end, when that end could not otherwise be obtained, want before abundance, shame before honour, pain before pleasure, death before life; and in His preferring always a laborious uninterrupted practice of virtue to a life of rest and ease and indolence.M.]
[Bengel:
1Pe 4:2 . Aptum verbum; non dicitur de brutis.M.]
[Augustine:Perdit quod vivit, qui te Deum non diligit; qui curat vivere, non propter te, Domine, nihil est et pro nihilo est; qui tibi vivere recusat mortuus est; qui tibi non sapit, desipit.M.]
[Leighton:Politic men have observed, that in states, if alterations must be, it is better to alter many things than a few. And physicians have the same remark for ones habit and custom for bodily health upon the same ground, because things do so relate one to another, that except they be adapted and suited together in the change, it avails not; yea, it sometimes proves the worse in the whole, though a few things in particular seem to be bettered. Thus, half reformations in a Christian, turn to his prejudice; it is only best to be thoroughly reformed, and to give up with all idols; not to live one half to himself and the world and, as it were, another half to God; for that is but falsely so and in reality it cannot be. The only way is to make a heap of all, to have all sacrificed together, and to live to no lust, but altogether and only to God.M.]
[Illustration of 1Pe 4:3-4. The poet says of the orgies of Bacchus:
Turba, ruunt; mixtque viris, matresque nurusque
Vulgusque, proceresque ignota ad sacra feruntur
Quis furor
Femine voces, et mota insania vino
Obscenique greges, et inania tympana.
Ovid, Met. 3, 529, etc.M.]
Footnotes:
[1]1Pe 4:1. [=then, better than forasmuch; render, Christ then having suffered.M.]
[2]1Pe 4:1. [ inserted in Text. Rec., A. K. L., omitted in B. C. and by Lachmann and Tischendorf. Cod. Sin. reads .M.]
[3]1Pe 4:1. [ =Do you also arm yourself with, strongly emphatic.M.]
[4]1Pe 4:1. [=because, gives a reason for .M.]
[5]1Pe 4:1. [. Text. Rec. inserts before second with K., Vulgate and others; A. B. C. L., Cod. Sin., Alford omit it. , used adverbially=quod ad carnem.M.]
[6]1Pe 4:1. [, Pass.,=is made to cease; he has rest from sin. Winer 39, 3, p. 277.M.]
[7]1Pe 4:2. [ =with a view, to the end that; depends on . The Greek has no pronoun, but the construction and sense require the continuance of the 2 p. Plural. The 3 p. Sing, of the English version is singularly unhappy, and obscures the sense.M.]
[8]1Pe 4:2. [Render, either with Alford, With a view no longer ( subjective) by the lusts of men, but by the will of God, to live the rest of your time in the flesh; or to avoid the awkwardness of that rendering: To the end that, as for the rest of your time in the flesh, ye should live no longer to (as conforming to) the lusts of men but to the will of God.M.]
[9]1Pe 4:3. [ , Text. Rec., with C. K. L.; Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, with A. B. omit , Cod. Sin. has . after inserted in Text. Rec. with K. L., omitted in A. B. C., Alford, Lachmann and Tischendorf. Translate: For sufficient is the past time (or the time past of your life).M.]
[10]1Pe 4:3. [Cod. Sin. has , but read with Receptus, , and translate, walking as you have done, so Alford.M.]
[11]1Pe 4:3. [, Plural.M.]
[12]1Pe 4:3. [=lawless, godless, nefarious.M.]
[13]1Pe 4:4. [ =at which.M.]
[14]1Pe 4:4. [=slough or puddle of profligacy.M.]
[15]1Pe 4:5. [ =for to this end.M.]
[16]1Pe 4:6. [ =even to dead men.M.]
[17]1Pe 4:6. [Translate: That they might indeed be judged according to men as to the flesh (see note 5 under 1Pe 4:1), but that they might (continue to) live (present tense) according to God, as to the spirit.M.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
This Chapter is full of Exhortations, in proposing to the Church, as an Object of unceasing Love, the Lord Jesus Christ; the People are tenderly invited to follow the Lord in the Regeneration.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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; (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. (3) For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: (4) Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: (5) Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. (6) For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. (7) But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. (8) And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. (9) Use hospitality one to another without grudging. (10) As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. (11) 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 forever and ever. Amen.
Certainly there are no arguments, in a way of persuasion, equal to those, which are drawn from the view of the love of Christ to his Church; and especially as manifested towards the Church in Christ’s sufferings and death. And when God the Holy Ghost sweetly blends his grace with his word, the child of God, cannot but feel the persuasiveness of it, on his soul. We have in this Chapter, some very blessed directions of the Holy Ghost, to this amount. And, Reader! why may we not hope, that He who so affectionately recommends, will as effectually give his blessing; and work in us both to will, and to do, of his good pleasure?
And, perhaps of all the arguments, within the compass of these verses, there is not one which comes home to the soul, of the regenerated with more endearedness, than that of Christ having suffered for us in the flesh, that we no longer should live to ourselves, but to him. Jesus having all fulness, emptied himself for his people. And when redemption work was finished, and he returned to glory, yet will he now not consider himself again filled, until the whole purposes of his sufferings and death be answered. If it could be supposed possible for one of Christ’s little ones to remain behind, in the ruins of this world, Jesus could not consider himself completely blessed without him. He must have his members by tale and number. The flocks must all pass under the hand of him that telleth them, Jer 33:13 . Reader! what think you of being armed with the same mind. Can we be content without Christ? Will a fulness of the creature, a fulness of ordinances, a full house, a full table, yea heaven itself, and Jesus not there, would these satisfy?
I detain the Reader no longer over these verses, (for they are all too plain to need a comment,) than just to observe, how blessedly the direction is given, for the ministering to God’s glory, by all the redeemed, whether private believers or public preachers, when they are called upon to do it, according to the ability which God giveth. And the reason is, because God must give in to his people grace, before that they can give out to Him praise. But when the heart is turned in all its chords, with God’s love, then, and not before, the true melody of the soul will vibrate on every string. The soul wound up to praise, is in perfect harmony with the numberless chants of old saints, and finds Christ, and enjoys Christ in every one. I will love thee, he will say, O Lord my strength. I will extol thee my God and King. I will bless thy Name forever and ever. If the Reader would desire hymns to this purpose, the Bible is full of them, Exo 15:11 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 41:13 ; Isa 25:1 ; Psa 104:33-34 . On the subject of covering a multitude of sins, see Jas 5:20 and Commentary.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Manifold Grace
1Pe 4:10
The whole verse reads thus, ‘Let every man that has received the gift even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God’. What is ‘manifold’? Many? No. The word ‘many’ would be misleading, though it does enter into the larger and truer interpretation of the term. Manifold in this case means variegated, many in colour and light and bloom and beauty. Manifold is not in this relation a question of quantity or quality, but of variety; every colour a poem, all the colours belonging to one another and totalling up into one ineffable whiteness. Every man hath received the gift, therefore let him minister the same, and let one give to another, and let every man bring his colour to every other man’s colour, and let all the world see how variegated in charm and hue is the total grace or gift of God. Every man holds his own colour of grace as a steward. Your colour is not mine, mine is not the colour held by some other man, but every man hath received his gift of God, his shade of colour. The shades of colour do not look well when they are taken away from one another; therefore they should be arranged into poems of brightness and bloom and fragrance; for God is the giver of them all. The holders of the variegated grace of God are only stewards.
I. This word ‘manifold’ occurs in many places, and it applies to good things and to bad things alike. There is nothing in the descriptive word itself, it is only when it is related to some substantive that it acquires a character or indicates a special utility of its own. Who expected to find this expression in Nehemiah, the busiest of the books, the wall-building book, the Balbus before the time. ‘In Thy manifold mercies thou forsookedst them not’ (Neh 9:19 ). The mercy is one, the mercies are ten thousand. Always distinguish between the substantial central quality and its radiations or offshoots or incidental distributions of forces. Mercy comes in many forms.
II. In that most wondrous of the psalms in many respects, the 104th, we read in the twenty-fourth verse, ‘O Lord, how manifold are Thy mercies!’ Why not say, How great is Thy mercy! That should be said, that has been said, but most of us are still in the lower school, and we have not quite got into the way of amalgamating and unifying the divers plurals and bringing them into one sublime and glowing unity. The Apostle Paul, most wondrous of writers and speakers, in one unconscious effort united the plurals and the singular in one grand expression, Eph 3:10 that album of wisdom, that temple of the uppermost and innermost piety. Paul there speaks of ‘the manifold wisdom of God’. It is another variety of the text, ‘the manifold grace of God’ the grace split up into attributes, into lines, separate individuality accentuated, and yet all gathering themselves up into grace, wisdom, love.
III. I must recall an idea just referred to, namely, that the word manifold is applied not only to things good, Divine, beautiful, but to other things. ‘I know your manifold transgressions and sins’ (Amo 5:12 ). Every man sins in his own way, and every man condemns the sins of every other man. That is how we come to have the little clay idol called Personal Respectability that miserable imp, that worst species of infidelity, if exaggerated and unduly applied and construed. Every man tries to make himself respectable by remarking upon the want of respectability in the man who is sitting next him: as who should say, You observe how critical I am, and how different I am from this person, although we are seated near to one another and are actually in the closest bodily proximity; yet how different I am from him! But the other man is saying exactly the same thing! That is the awkward part of the criticism. Mind yourself, take heed unto thyself. Pulling down another man’s house does not make your own any the more secure.
So then the word ‘manifold’ may be applied not only to the grace of God, the wisdom of God, and the mercy of God, but to the transgressions and the sins of men and to the temptations through which all souls that are being educated for heaven must needs pass. Be ye stewards of the grace which God has committed to you. It is a grace of wealth, a grace of leisure or of patience or of tenderness; you are gifted with the love of mankind, you have yearning hearts after the Lord; you have a great skill in seeing the best side of every man’s character, and working upon the lost from the point of hope and the centre of possible restoration. Oh, do not look at the weed, look at the flower; do not look at the hardships, but look at the enjoyments. Wondrous is the mercy, the grace of God.
Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. II. p. 13.
References. IV. 10. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 13. R. W. Church, Village Sermons, p. 126. A. E. Tonkin, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. p. 323. H. M. Butler, Harrow School Sermons (2nd Series), p. 46. Expositor (6th Series), vol. vii. p. 275.
‘The Ability Which God Giveth’
1Pe 4:2
I. ‘The ability which God giveth’: a religious ability, a spiritual faculty, a way of looking at things and doing things that is not common, that traces itself back to the sanctuary and the altar, and comes forth with some redness of blood upon it. This is a mystery we cannot put into words; yet we feel it We feel fire, though we may not be able to understand all its composition and trace all its history. ‘As every man hath received the gift.’ That is the fundamental principle. We receive gifts; we do not invent them, we do not create them in any sense. All true gifts are gifts of God; from the Father of lights there cometh down every good and every perfect gift.
‘As every man hath received the gift, let him be a good steward.’ What of? ‘Of the manifold grace of God.’ The word ‘manifold’ means in that case many-coloured the vermilion and the indigo and all the colours. It is a many-coloured grace. There is nothing monotonous in God. He never gives to two men the same gift. If they are openly and patently the same gift they are not so inwardly and spiritually; each has a note of its own, a comment of its own, a subtle expressive accent, that no other man can steal or successfully duplicate.
II. Here, then, we are called into the great doctrine of responsibility. What is the animating thought in the Apostle’s mind? One likes to get back to the original impulse. There is a secret within a secret. You do this or that not because of the manifold reasons which are on the surface; all these may be only excuses, not reasons, not conclusions of the logical faculty, but something put forth that will do for the moment. What is the original impulse in Peter’s fervent mind? The same impulse that was in Paul’s still greater intellect. He said: Do all these things, for ‘the end of all things is at hand’. Anybody can see beginnings but to see the end! The Apostles grandly caught the spirit of their Master. They said, Jesus Christ will be here presently; He is at hand, He is almost visible; neglect no duty, discharge every obligation, regard life as a solemn responsibility, and be up! That is true; that is the spirit in which we ought to work. Work while it is called day, for the night cometh wherein no man can work. It is night in one aspect, it is the kingdom of morning in another. You shake hands with your friends and say, We will meet you tomorrow. Your friend is not at the trysting-place. How is this? Here is a telegram for you. What does it say? He died an hour after he parted from you. Is the tenure of life so brittle as that? Exactly; we are tenants at will; we have no lease; it is, so to say, a word-of-mouth arrangement, and one of the mouths has nothing to say about it, which is the Lord’s mouth.
III. What, then, have we to do with regard to this doctrine, that all things are coming swiftly and suddenly to an end? What is the monition arising out of the declaration that the kingdom of God is at hand? It is this, that we are to do all our work as if it were the only work we have to do. Death is at the door; there is but a step between thee and death; thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. That is the atmosphere in which we have to work. We do not like it, but we did not create it, and we cannot abolish it; we can, so to say, utilise and sanctify it.
IV. ‘As every man hath received the gift.’ Here is individual endowment. Is that a fact? Yes, that is a fact. That is your opportunity and mine. I have been envying the endowments of a man or woman poet, statesman, preacher and the Lord says, Why envy? The man who has the five gifts did not give them to himself; the five talents were given by the Lord; now it is for you to remember that you your own very, very self you have a gift. That should make men of us. Seeing that the image and the superscription of that gift is God’s, how can we account ourselves penniless, how can we shiver as if we were orphaned and poor and driven out upon the face of the earth as mean mendicants? The question for each man to consider is, What is my one particular gift? I must burnish it, or use it, or, changing the figure, I must plant it, and set it in relation to all that spiritual chemistry which is proceeding throughout the whole creation, and who knows but that from that little root there may come something, perhaps beautiful, perhaps nutritious, perhaps fragrant?
Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. iv. p. 280.
References. IV. 11. W. M. Sinclair, Christ and our Times, p. 245. T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 143. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. iv. p. 280. IV. 12, 13. W. J. Knox-Little, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. p. 232. IV. 12-19. C. Brown, Trial and Triumph, p. 157. IV. 13. J. Caird, Sermons, p. 167. IV. 14. Expositor (5th Series), vol. v. p. 382. IV. 14-16. Ibid. vol. vi. p. 144. IV. 15. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. vi. p. 97. J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. p. 296. J. Parker, ibid. vol. liii. p. 296. IV. 16-19. W. H. Simcox, The Cessation of Prophecy, p. 114.
The Forlorn Rescue
1Pe 4:18
The righteous are vividly conscious of the fact that more than once they escaped by a hair’s breadth. Such are the weakness and folly of human nature that our salvation is rendered possible only in the infinite power and grace of God. The evolutionist knows that in the great struggle of nature competitive forms are so evenly balanced against each other that the slightest advantage determines the successful plant or animal. Darwin’s words are these: ‘A grain in the balance may determine which individuals shall live and which shall die; which variety or species shall increase in number, and which shall decrease or finally become extinct’. ‘A grain in the balance.’ Very astonishing is the vast part that the grain plays in deciding the mighty fortunes of nature. The presence or absence of the grain in the balance is equally decisive in society. That which determines between the successful and the unsuccessful, the rich and the poor, the famous and the forgotten, is often singularly insignificant a mere particle. So the moral triumph of man repeatedly seems due to superiority in strength by just a degree. ‘Scarcely saved.’
I. The special lesson we would now enforce is the immense importance of any gain whatever in the religious life. Many Christian people do not appreciate this fact, and accordingly despise the minute accessions of light and strength secured by daily study, vigilance, and effort. The minute gain of daily faithfulness is in its significance immense. Truth, a trifle more clearly discerned; faith, enhanced as by a grain of mustard seed; love, clinging by an added tendril; and hope, the anchor of the soul, somewhat more surely biting the solid ground, mean much in the history of a soul.
II. Let us take to heart the fact that the working out of our salvation is a serious thing, attended by infinite difficulty. We are familiar with peril in our natural life. There is far move tension of awareness in our natural life than at first appears. Yet the peril of the soul is certainly not less; and the best are conscious that they have nothing of which to boast. The most thrilling rescues of fire-ladder or life-boat are dull metaphors of the wonderful deliverances of the soul from sin and hell. Heaven must have held its breath several times over the best of us. Let us, then, take care that henceforth we put our whole soul into the work of its own salvation; despising nothing, neglecting nothing. There is no telling in our spiritual life with what vast consequences microscopic gains are fraught, or what tragedies the lack of those gains may entail. The atom becomes a spiritual rock which guarantees our salvation; the grain turns in our favour the balances of eternity.
W. L. Watkinson, The Ashes of Roses, p. 52.
References. IV. 18. H. Windross, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. x. p. 558. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. liii. No. 3047.
God’s Faithfulness
1Pe 4:19
Faithfulness is the most beautiful thing which we have on earth. How, then, does this most touching characteristic appear in God? You will notice the special form in which St. Peter brings home his great conviction and appeal. In order to speak of faithfulness in God, especially as a faithful Creator, he might have taken the uniformity of nature, or he might have taken the faithfulness in history. But St Peter chooses by preference another great field upon which may be tested the faithfulness of God. He chooses the land of Trouble. What a wonderful land that is! Just as nothing is so foolish as to underrate difficulties about religion, so nothing is so shallow as to underrate the crushing burden of the troubles which men and women have on earth sometimes to bear.
I. I ask those who have explored the land of Trouble whether they cannot witness to these three things: (1) First, that although the fire of suffering is sometimes very hot indeed for, remember, He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver, and it wants a great deal of heat to purify silver yet if a man does pray that prayer, ‘Not my will, but Thine be done,’ if he has prepared himself in Gethsemane, then he is conscious of an unseen and mysterious strength which is given him in the time of trouble; he is conscious of a great strong hand, as it were, holding him; he is conscious of some power which is tempering the fire so that he can just bear it. (2) Is it not true that in the darkness of the land of Trouble comes also a mysterious form Jesus Christ? (3) And, as in the beginning the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of order, brought the kosmos order out of chaos, so now that same Holy Spirit takes His part in the time of trouble.
II. But one word as to the conditions of receiving the faithfulness of God. St. Peter, with his wonderful touch, gives three of them. (1) Those that differ must suffer according to the will of God. (2) The suffering of others must be according to the will of God. (3) And, lastly, ‘in welldoing’. No morbid retrospect, no craving after a lost Paradise if it is lost no wrapping one’s self up in selfish sorrow. No, the soul must fling itself forward in ‘welldoing,’ in good works. It must throw itself all the more forward for the sorrow of the past The soul that does so inherits and deserves the faithfulness of God.
Bishop Winnington-Ingram, Under the Dome, p. 115.
References. IV. 19. Newman Smyth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. 1. p. 43. V. 1. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2610. V. 2. Expositor (5th Series), vol. i. p. 469. V. 3. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. i. p. 397.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Peccadilloes
1Pe 4:15
This text is not much by itself. I do not select it except as indicating a class of texts full of practical meaning. We are here invited to consider what may be called, for want of a simpler word, peccadilloes or little sins. We are not exhorted against great crimes only, as murder, drunkenness, theft, and the like; all these are the subject of apostolic comment: but we are also exhorted to be on our guard against the little foxes that spoil the grapes. Many a man is almost irreproachable on great matters who is yet riddled through and through with little holes, small infirmities; insignificant drawbacks they may appear to himself to be, yet there they are, and the Apostle, as the exponent of a spiritual religion, seeks to encourage us to amend ourselves in small particulars. In a Christian congregation no man requires to be warned against murder, at least as murder is commonly understood; but where is there a man who does not need to be warned against little slips, and small sins; who does not hide from himself the smallness of the sins by calling them peccadilloes? Why not call them by the plain, simple, English word? Why hide our shortcomings under the polysyllables of a foreign tongue? After all it comes to this, that the Apostle is careful about the vulnerable heel. He says, You are strong in ninety-nine points out of a hundred, but man is no stronger than his weakest point, and it may just be possible that his whole character is running out at so mean and insignificant a point as being an intrusive meddler in other people’s concerns. It is wonderful how character leaks. There is no great breach in the character. The character is, however, oozing away a drop at a time. An incessancy always works either ruin or success. In education, in commerce, in all high and noble endeavour, persistency wins, In your patience ye shall win your souls. But the persistency which is so honourable and successful in noble pursuits becomes the incessancy which eats up the character. Think what incessancy is: figure it to your minds under any action such as the dropping of water, the leaking of gas, the loss of small sums, whatever it may be, never ceasing, going on night and day; no great loss ever occurring at any one moment, but all the moments constitute one period of loss. The Apostle therefore is intensely spiritual; he would say to us in effect, You have escaped murder and drunkenness and theft and all the grosser sins and crimes; now you must come to close work small, fine, detailed stippling, every touch full of meaning; no one touch indicating great progress, but all the touches expressing the last refinement. The text therefore is not complete in itself, but it indicates a considerable number of other texts.
Now in other matters we set great store by fine work. Concerning a painting, we say, What wonderful work it expresses! it appears to have been done by a touch, but the touch itself is a touch expressing prolonged and anxious education; it is not the touch of an amateur, it is not the touch of a beginner, it is the touch of a master-hand. In painting, therefore, we are strong in our admiration of refined, detailed work; so we are in sculpture and in all handicrafts; our common criticism is: This has been worked to the very finest possible point. There is a rough-and-ready way of doing work; there is also a detailed and most careful way of working out results; we always praise the latter form of service, and we are right. The numismatist takes up his coin and says, See how finely this coin is milled! how beautifully it is touched at every point! and notice that nothing has been neglected or left in the rough. What is the man doing? Praising fineness of work, detailed care. He is perfectly right: but in proportion as he is right about his painting and sculpture and coins, or any manner of handicraft, is he not a fortiori bound to go forward, and say, If in mechanics, how much more in character? It is not enough simply to be not a ruffian, not a murderer, not a thief; you must by this time have come into the refinement of spiritual education; now one tap should open heaven’s gate widely. Jesus Christ shows his anxiety about this matter of instituting a process of what may be called comparative morality. When he sees men exchanging courtesies, he says, This is good: but do not even the publicans the same? When he sees men abstaining from crime, he says, This is good: but what do ye more than others? When he sees men loving others who love them, he says, This is good: but do not the pagans the same thing? As disciples in my school you should go forward, and do miracles; you should, so to say, give to nature her highest meaning, her widest, sublimest application of thought and purpose; and the Christian should stand unapproached, unapproachable, ineffable, in beauteousness and piety of soul. The Apostle, as a great minister, takes in the whole survey, and he warns men against murder and theft and evil-doing, and yet he adds, Do not suffer as a busybody in other men’s matters.
So Paul in speaking of the qualifications of a religious officer goes into very special detail. Who shall be bishop? The Apostle says he must for one thing be a man “that ruleth well his own house.” But is this necessary? The Apostle Paul says it is. He proceeds to argue the case, saying, “For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God?” What a wonderful religion this is! setting up its standards on the hearthstone, watching how men live at home. Verily this is morality carried up into divinity; truly this is divinity incarnating itself in morality; surely here earth and heaven meet in one solemn conjunction. We cannot understand all the qualifications of a great official in the Church, but we can understand how an aspirant to high office behaves at home. Home is a unit we must never omit from our most intricate and important calculations. I do not go to the newspapers for a man’s character; not to a hired critic do I appeal for an estimate of a soul. I ask, what is he at home? Does he furnish the house when he comes into it? Does he turn his house into a music palace by his very voice? Do the servants and the children rejoice in the sound of his footfall? Is the window filled with the fairest face he ever saw when he draws near to it? No matter what the outside world may think or say of him, he makes a home; he is therefore at least the outline of a bishop, he is at least the shadow of a deacon. He begins well; he may have some larger faculty; having been faithful over a few things he may be qualifying himself to become ruler over many things. We all have a field here. I would not speak to you, except reprovingly, if I thought you did not make your house the very pleasantest little home in the world; I do not want to be associated with men who cannot behave themselves at home. I want your name at home to be a name of love, nobleness, kindness, so that anybody in trouble can come and lay the aching head on your strong breast and cry it all out there, and get healed by that fatherhood which is in every man. It is very noticeable therefore that Paul would not ordain a man to the bishopric or to the diaconate who did not rule his own house well. If this rule were established all through and through life who could be the fault-finder? Yet some persons are quite ingenious in faultfinding; they seem to have a call and an election in this matter. They know how everybody else should behave. The Lord never called a censorious critic to any trust.
The Apostle holds the same argument in his first Epistle to Timothy, and tells certain people their duty in these words “Let them learn first to shew piety at home.” Blessed Paul! Sometimes we have been under the temptation of thinking that he cared nothing for home or friends or country or earth or time or space; but then he was in his eagle moods, his opinions darkened all heaven as they ascended towards the sun. At other times he came down and sat in the ingle-nook and told his Christian followers how to conduct their houses. When a man touches spheres so remote as these, surely he is under divine inspiration. The Apostle was not an ascetic; he did not live by himself and snub all manner of intercommunion as between neighbours: but he saw how this kind of action was deteriorating, and therefore he rebuked persons in these terms “wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies” ( 1Ti 5:13 ). He kept his eyes open upon the society in which he lived. What, said he, can ever come of this kind of conduct? You are never to be found at home; you rise in the morning to go into somebody else’s house; “wandering about”: how can you ever become scholars, hard workers, when you do not submit to the discipline of industry, and keep on doing your honest, simple duty with both hands? “tattlers also,” getting hold of little bits of stories, always hearing things that are not worth hearing, and then saying, We could not help hearing them. No, the Apostle would say, Perhaps you could not help hearing them when you went to the place where they were being spoken, but you can help repeating them. When we get rid of all the wanderers, tattlers, and intrusive meddlers, we shall begin to get quite a consolidated army of real, earnest, useful workers.
This kind of doctrine has a wide application. Writing to the Thessalonians his second letter he says in the third chapter and eleventh verse: “For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.” This is the third time we meet with the term “busybody,” twice in Paul, once in Peter, and the meaning is an intrusive meddler in other men’s concerns. If people would remain at home and attend to their own business, it is wonderful how short they would find the day to be. Time flies when we are working. The idler’s day has in it twice the usual number of hours, and every hour has in it twice the usual number of minutes: but when a man is working time flies. The Apostle therefore would bring us back from our wandering and our tattling and our expenditure of energy in misdirected ways, and would fix us down to simple honourable work with a view to the formation and completion of Christian character. These are not trifles. When a man is trying to hold his tongue, knowing that his infirmity is to speak much and think little, he is not engaged in a trifling occupation; he remembers what has just been said, that character is no stronger than its weakest point. A famous sculptor was busy with his chisel. Having finished the face of his figure, which in marble is the soul, he spent day after day in the arrangement of the hair. Said a critic to him, Why spend all this time over the hair when the statue is to be sixty feet high? who will see it? The sculptor replied, “The gods will see it.” That is work! If we cannot see it from below, they will see it from above; and the higher up the higher the criticism. If they do these things to obtain a corruptible crown, what shall we do who have to fashion a soul, work out to its finest uses that wondrous mystery which is called character? Is it enough to have a fair outside? Society can see that: who sees the soul, the fine touches, the delicate elaboration, the microscopic refinements? who see these things? The gods to us, the God. Work for him: fashion everything according to his scale of criticism; and then we shall grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, to this purpose, that the outcome may be simple, strong, beneficent character.
We know what it is to have little drawbacks, small infirmities. For example, we say of such and such a man that he is an excellent character but very satirical. Then he is not an excellent character. You are misjudging the man; you are taking away some other man’s character to give it to one to whom it does not belong. If the satire be directed against wrong-doing, injustice, falsehood, hypocrisy, and the like, then the more of it the better; but if by satire you mean an instrument by which human feeling of an honest and simple kind is wounded or exasperated, then you are taking the instrument of hell with which to do the work of heaven. Never mock the earnest man; never sneer at the soul that is trying to pray and often breaking down in the great endeavour. Many a hearer has sneered at a speaker when he little knew that that speaker was, as it were, pouring out his soul unto death in some unconceived and inexpressible agony. You are not a good man, if you can sneer at any other man who wishes to be good. We say, This is an excellent man but a little unpolished. Then he may be an excellent man but not so excellent as the Lord designs him to be. We are to be polished stones not in any conventional and pedantic sense. Many a man is courteous, who has rough hands honestly employed in getting daily bread. Many a man is polished, who does not know the grammar of his mother tongue. What do you mean by polished? Do you mean that subtle spiritual refinement which comes from love of great subjects, noble aspirations? Then such refinement is impossible to the most uncultivated person: and social veneer may be covering the most detestable corruption. We say of another man, He would be very good, if he were not so suspicious. Then that is his weak point; he must arm himself against suspicion; he must allow himself to be taken in three times a week for a year or two. He must say, This is my weakness: I am suspecting everything and everybody but myself. You must reverse the process and suspect yourself; do not believe a word you say; tell yourself to your face that you are a lying man, and say when you are going to pray, I am going to add to my hypocrisy: good God forbid that I should do this at the altar. We cannot have this excellence, minus ; this wonderful character attached to the weakness of being a busybody, a tattler, a man who cannot rule his own house, a woman who does not show piety at home. We do not care for your high and mighty occasional doings; we want the simplicity that is lovely down to its very roots.
Seeing then that Christianity would amend character in such matters, what may we infer? We may infer that Christianity is intensely spiritual. There is nothing rough-and-ready about it. It is like the Word of God by which it comes to us, it is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow. Christianity would have us holy in the inward parts; the king’s daughter is to be all beautiful within, if her covering is to be of wrought gold. Who, then, can be saved? Holy Spirit, dwell with me! Lord, abide with me! We are to infer that character needs long training. You cannot make a character in a day. You cannot hasten the development of character. The element of time enters into the value of reputation. Not the man who has been good for three days, or three years, but the man who has added year to year, decade to decade, and who, winter and summer through, has been faithful, he in the time of snowy hair may stand up as, in some sort, an image of what the Holy Ghost would do in the soul of every believing man. We are to infer that little things are often difficult things. It it sometimes easier to pay money by a cheque than to find coin for it. Many a man has less difficulty in drawing a cheque for fifty pounds than in finding some fractional sum under a sovereign. Many a rich man is often short of small coins and has to borrow of men who are ashamed to ask for their return. We should be careful about all these things. Never borrow without meaning to pay back. Never injure what are called the minor moralities of life, the little flowers in the garden; but be strong there as elsewhere and, if we take care of these little things, it will be wonderful to see how we advance and grow in things that are greater. We are to infer that spiritual education can only be conducted by spiritual agency. What is that agency? It is the ministry of God the Holy Ghost, the continual illumination of the Divine Spirit in the soul. And we are not to take care so much of grand spectacular aspects of character as to take care of the little and unseen phases of conduct. What, is this thy meaning, O Cross Cross of Golgotha? Is conduct thy meaning? And the Cross answers, Yes: not theology, not metaphysics; these have their place, their importance, their inexpressible value: but the Cross has been set up in vain if its believers be not real, simple, honest, honourable, beneficent men. I would not address you in the poetry which means nothing, but in the poetry of discipline. I would stand up as, officially not personally, a general of the army, and would exhort you to be faithful in all small matters; and having done so I would turn sharply in upon myself and say, Apply thine own doctrine; reduce these things to practice; and thus let there be shown to the world such largeness and beauty of character that men shall say, The religion that produces such manhood must have come from heaven.
Note
[from Angus’s Bible Handbook .]
The following are among the more important of the truths discussed in the Epistles.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XX
WHAT TO PUT AWAY
1Pe 2:1-4:6
This section commences at 1Pe 2:1 : What to put away, and on what to be nourished. The Christian should put away wickedness, guile, hypocrisies, and evil speaking. The nourishment is “the sincere milk of the word, which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby.” No man can grow in the Christian life without feeding upon Christian food, and therefore men who preach the word are said to break the Bread of life to the people.
This brings us to a new and emphatic item of the analysis: “The spiritual temple,” (1Pe 2:4-10 ), as follows: “Unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Because it is contained in Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: And he that believeth in him shall not be put to shame. For you therefore that believe is the preciousness: but for such as disbelieve, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence; For they stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light: who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”
Consider first the foundation of the spiritual house. The characteristics of this foundation are first, that it is a livingstone, not a dead one. The foundation of Solomon’s Temple was inert matter. The foundation stone of the spiritual house of which Peter speaks was the Lord Jesus Christ himself; not dead, but living. This foundation is not only alive, but the stone which constitutes it was elected. That means it was chosen. God selected that foundation. As it is God’s house, it is for him to say what substructure shall uphold the superstructure. For this purpose he elects his only begotten Son. Not only elect, but it is precious. The word precious there has the sense of costly. We say a precious stone in contradistinction from a stone of no particular value. Precious Christ. From that word we get our word “appreciate.” To appreciate anything is to put it at its value. To depreciate it is to put it below its price. So it is not only an elect stone, but a costly one.
The next thing in this spiritual building is that all of the material that goes into this spiritual house must be living material. We also are living stones. No man can be put into the temple of God who is not made alive by the Spirit of God. The apostle Paul in 1Co 3:11 , referring to the foundation, says, “There can be but one foundation.” The building is God’s building, and that he, a preacher, is a co-laborer with God in putting up that building. Now he says that if in putting up that temple this human laborer shall put in material that will not stand the first test, all that material is lost, and the man who puts it in suffers loss in the day that tries his work by fire. He refers then to the building material used. Some people use hay, wood, and stubble for thatching a house; they put that on the roof, and some build the walls of wood. Combustible material will perish in the fire. There is a passage in Jeremiah which refers to the same thing, that in putting up the spiritual temple we should not daub with untempered mortar. Mortar must be such that when it is dry it will hold together. Now the thought is the same here, that this spiritual house of which Christ is the foundation (and he is the only foundation) must be made of spiritual, living material. That distinguished Christ’s house from Solomon’s house. This passage interprets Mat 16:18 . It shows that Peter never supposed himself to be the rock on which the church is built.
The next thing in connection with the spiritual house is that its members (here he changes the figure, no longer speaking of them as the component parts of the wall, but speaking of them as servants in the house) constitute a priesthood. Every member of God’s true flock is a priest without regard to age or sex. They are all priests a spiritual priesthood. In the Old Testament the priesthood was a special class. In the New Testament God’s people constitute a kingdom of priests. Every one of them is a priest.
The next thing is the kind of sacrifices that this priesthood offers. In the Old Testament the sacrifices were symbolical. Here they are spiritual. Praise is spiritual; prayer also is, contribution is, when given from the right motive. The entire family of God are priests, offering sacrifices unto God. The next thought (here the figure is changed again) is: There was an old nation deriving its descent from Abraham. Now Christians belong to a new nation. That is clearly expressed here in the passage. It says, “Ye are an elect race,” that is, “you derive your descent from the spiritual seed, Christ being the head of the race.” The old-time Israel was a national people made up of those who by fleshly descent constituted its members. Now we are a spiritual nation. The people of God are conceived of as a nation as well as a race.
Now we come to the purpose, and that is expressed in these words: “That ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” That is the purpose. That is really the purpose of every Christian organization, of every Christian life, that the Christian should show forth the excellency of God, his Saviour.
We have in 1Pe 2:11-17 some general exhortations that do not particularly need any exposition, and in 1Pe 2:18-22 . we have some exhortations based on the fact that a large number of the Christian people in that day were slaves, servants, and he starts out with that idea. He speaks to slaves: “Be in subjection to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward, for this is acceptable, if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye take it patiently? But if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.” All this bears on the hard condition of the slave at that time; that the slave would be put to grief wrongfully; that he would be buffeted wrongfully; that he would be reviled wrongfully. Now what are these slaves to do if they are Christians? He does not preach as a member of an abolition society. He doesn’t propose to introduce any revolutionary measures. But he tries to fix the minds of those slaves upon better things: First, that they can as slaves illustrate the truth and the power of the Christian religion, and can show forth the excellencies of God. That if they are buffeted, so was Christ. If they are reviled, so was Christ. If they are maltreated, so was he. “The thing to do, whatever your lot) is in it to illustrate the power of the Christian religion, and you will do more good that way than by trying to organize a slave insurrection.”
I have a Texas friend who wishes me to quit preaching the gospel and preach socialism. He says that I am wasting my time and gifts. I tell him that I am following in the footsteps of our Lord. I go through the world seeing many things that are wrong wrong politically, wrong economically, wrong in a thousand other ways. If I enter into this political arena, try to revolutionize the world as a politician, I will certainly fail as a preacher. Other men before me have tried it and failed. I do a better thing; I can preach a gospel whose principles will reform society, whose principles will ultimately bring about the greatest good to the greatest number in all things.
In 1Pe 3:1-7 he discusses the relation of husband and wife, and very much as Paul discusses it in his letters. In every letter Paul writes, he takes up the case of the slave, the husband, the wife, the citizen, the child, the parent. Peter does the same thing, and shows that real Christianity in the heart of a good woman will prompt her to honor and respect her husband, to be obedient, and will prompt the husband to love and cherish the wife, and that a married state blessed by the power of religion will do more toward reforming society than all the divorce courts in the world. That is his way of dealing with social, domestic, economic, and political questions.
He calls attention to the fact that Christian women, like all other women, like adornment. That is characteristic of the sex, and he is not depreciating a woman wearing nice apparel that is not the thing with him but in the method of the New Testament teaching, he is showing a higher kind of adornment when he says this: “Whose adorning let it not be the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of great price.” There are many teachings of the New Testament that, taken on their face, seem to condemn external adornment altogether.
Dr. Sampey in a judicious article calls attention to the power of contrast in certain Hebraisms, and shows how that principle goes all through the New Testament. When God says, “I will have none of their offerings,” he does not mean that he would not accept the offerings which he had commanded them to make, but he means when compared to what they signify they are but the chaff of the wheat. If a woman lives merely for dress, and her adornment is merely jewels and silks and ribbons and things of that kind, then it is a very poor kind of external beauty. But over against that he puts the true adornment of the soul, and virtues and graces of the Christian religion, and that gives her in the true idea of dress, the most shining apparel in the world. That is his thought.
In 1Pe 3:10 , we reach a new idea in the analysis: The way of a happy life. Let us see what it is: “He that would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. Let him turn away from the evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.”
Here are three directions for a happy life, summed up as follows: “Watch out what you do; watch out about what you pursue.” Now if a man goes around talking evil and doing evil and pursuing fusses, it is impossible for him to have a happy life. The reason is expressed in 1Pe 3:12 : “For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their supplications; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” That is the reason. God is above man, his eye is on us all the time, his ears listen. We are under his jurisdiction, his face is against them that do evil. His favor is toward them that do well. Now the question comes up about a happy life. I am to do these three things: Keep my tongue from evil, turn away from doing evil, and live in peace and not fusses. And the reason that those directions will bring happiness is that God is against the bad and for the good. That constitutes the way of a happy life.
At the beginning of a great meeting in Caldwell, a good many years ago, the old pastor preached the opening sermon from that text: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their supplications, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil”; and his theme was the government of God. It was a fine introduction to a revival.
Continuing the thought, he says, “Who is he that will harm you if ye be zealous of that which is good?” That is, take the general run of things. If one moves to a community, and while living in it he does not speak evil of his neighbors, he does good and not evil, and he avoids fusses and cultivates peace, now who is going to harm him? Now as a general rule (there are exceptions to it) he will be liked in the community.
That is the rule; now the exceptions: “But even if ye should suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessed are ye; fear not their fear, neither be troubled.” Suppose as an exception that one moves into a community and lives right and talks right, but on account of his religion he is subjected to ill-treatment and that may happen, has happened, there is always a possibility of that exception coming in now what if he does suffer, he is blessed in it; nobody can take anything away from him that God cannot restore to him a thousand-fold, or give him something better in the place of it.
The spirits in prison: This is a hard passage. Let us look at it carefully: “Christ being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he also went and preached unto the spirits in prison that aforetime were disobedient, when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved through water; which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.”
I call attention first to the textual difficulty. The version that I have before me reads this way: “being put to death in the flesh, and made alive in the spirit.” This translation contrasts Christ’s soul with Christ’s flesh, and says that he was put to death in his body, but made alive in his soul. The same translators take the passage in Timothy 3:16 : “was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit,” and there they again make the spirit refer to Christ’s soul as opposed to Christ’s body.
I take the position unhesitatingly that they are in error in both places that there is no reference in either place to the soul of Christ. Christ was put to death in the flesh, and that flesh was made alive by the Holy Spirit. That is what it means. He was declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection) and in other places he was manifested in the flesh, and so manifested he was justified by the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit” refers not to Christ’s soul in either passage, but refers to the Holy Spirit. That with me is a capital point. It is the later modern radical critics that insist on making “spirit” in both of these passages refer not to the Holy Spirit, but to Christ’s soul, and hence their teaching of this passage is that Christ died as to his body, but was made alive as to his soul, and hence in his soul he went and preached to the other spirits.
My first objection to their view is this: That Christ was not made alive in his soul at the time he was put to death in his flesh nothing was the matter with his soul. The question is whether it means the Holy Spirit or Christ’s soul. I say it means the Holy Spirit.
The second thought is: “being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Holy Spirit.” His body that was put to death was revived by the Holy Spirit, made alive, in which Holy Spirit he went (in past tense) and preached to those that are now disembodied spirits and in prison. But when he preached to them, they were not disembodied. Christ preached through the Holy Spirit to the antediluvians while the ark was preparing, as Gen 6:3 says, “My Spirit will not always strive with man.” Through the Holy Spirit, Christ was preaching to those people while the ark was preparing. The very same Holy Spirit, when Christ’s body died, made it alive in the resurrection. So in answering the question: “To whom did he preach?” I say that he preached to the antediluvians. When did he preach to them? When they were disobedient, in the days of Noah. How did he preach to them? By the Holy Spirit. Where are those people now? They are in prison, shut up unto the judgment of the great day; they are the dead now, and in the next chapter he will say the gospel was preached to them that are dead for this cause. They are dead now, but when they were living they had the gospel preached to them, but they rejected it.
The theory of the translation before us is open to these insuperable objections:
(1) It fails to explain how he was “made alive in his own spirit when his body died.”
(2) It teaches a probation after death which is opposed to all the trend of the Scriptures.
(3) It provides a work for Christ’s disembodied soul contrary to the work elsewhere assigned to him in that state, namely, his going to the Father (Luk 23:46 ) to make immediate atonement by offering his blood shed on the cross (see Lev 16 ; Heb 9:24 ff.). He was elsewhere and on quite a different work.
(4) It fails to explain why, if his disembodied soul went on such a mission, it was limited to antediluvians only.
(5) It robs him of his Old Testament work through the Holy Spirit.
(6) It leaves out the making alive of Christ’s dead body by the Holy Spirit (Rom 1:4 ), so powerfully described by Peter elsewhere (Act 2:22-36 ).
I believe that Jesus entered into hell, but when? Not as a disembodied soul between the death and resurrection of his body, nor after he arose from the dead. We have clearly before seen what he did while disembodied, and what he did after his body was raised. He entered into hell, soul and body, on the cross, in the three hours of darkness, when he was forsaken of the Father, and met the dragon and his hosts, and triumphed over them, making a show of them openly.
To show that the Spirit here is the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit made alive Christ’s body that was put to death in the flesh, he is now going to bring in the subject of the resurrection. The Holy Spirit made Christ’s body alive in the resurrection, and the illustration used is the waters in the flood that the waters of the flood, in a certain sense, saved a few. The very waters that destroyed man saved a few; that is, those that obeyed God and got into the ark, eight of them, they were saved by the water. Now he says in like figure, or the antitype of the flood, is baptism, and that baptism now saves us; that is what it says. The only question is how does it save us? He answers both positively and negatively. .Negatively he says it does not put away the filth of the flesh. That is what it does not do. It doesn’t mean that. There, flesh means the carnal nature, and not the dirt that is on the outside of the body. If we take the word, “flesh,” and run it through the New Testament, we will see what he refers to there, that baptism does not cleanse the carnal nature. So the salvation referred to is not an internal, spiritual cleansing of the nature. When we talk about baptism saving us, we must be sure that it does not accomplish that salvation. Well, what salvation does it accomplish? It accomplishes a salvation by answering a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Well, what is that?
Let us get at the precise thought. We want to see how baptism saves. It saves us in a figure, not in reality. It does not put away carnal nature. It saves us in a figure the figure of the resurrection. Now that is exactly what it does. It gives us a picture of salvation, a pictorial, symbolical resurrection. In baptism we are buried, and in baptism we are raised. Now through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which that baptism memorializes that is salvation. Not a real one, but a figurative one that pictorial representation of salvation. That as we have been buried in the likeness of Christ’s death, so shall we be in the likeness of his resurrection. It is likeness, not the thing itself a picture. It is true that baptism washes away sin, because Ananias says to Paul, “Arise, and wash away thy sins.” But it does not actually wash away sins, because it is the blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin. It does wash away sin symbolically and in no other way. Baptism saves, not actually, by change of the carnal nature, but in a figure. It is the figure of the resurrection. That is the way it saves.
The literature upon that passage in Peter is immense, and there are a great many people in the Church of England today who hold that in the interval between the death and the resurrection of Christ he spent the time visiting lost souls and preaching to them. We have already shown what he was doing between his death and the resurrection: that his spirit went to the Father; that it went with the penitent thief into the paradise of God; that he went there to sprinkle his blood of expiation on the mercy seat in order to make atonement, and then he came back. And when he came, there took place what this text says, “He who was put to death in the flesh and made alive by the Holy Spirit,” as to his body. The Holy Spirit raised his body. The text has not a word to say about what Christ’s spirit did between his death and his resurrection not a thing. But this text does say that in the Holy Spirit, before he ever became manifest in the flesh, he used to preach, but not in person. In other words, he is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that through the Holy Spirit the gospel was preached in Old Testament times. That Abraham was able to see Christ’s day and rejoiced; that Abel was enabled by faith to take hold of Christ. All these people back yonder in the old world had the gospel preached to them. They had light, and it was spiritual light.
QUESTIONS
1. On the thought in 1Pe 2:2 , that the soul needs a healthful and nutritious diet as well as the body, what things must be put away as poisonous, and what must be used as nourishing?
2. In the figure of a spiritual house (1Pe 2:4-10 ), show what is the Christian temple, what the foundation and chief cornerstone, what the priesthood, what the sacrifices, what the object, contrasting each point with the Jewish type.
3. In Mat 16:18 Christ says to Peter, “On this rock I will build my church,” and evidently here (1Pe 2:4-7 ) there is a reference to our Lord’s words, hence the question: Who is the foundation rock on which the church is built as Peter himself understood Christ’s words, and who the rock as Isaiah understood it (Isa 28:16 ), which Peter quoted, and as Paul understood it (1Co 3:9-16 )?
4. In 1Pe 2:9 state the points of contrast between Israel after the flesh and the spiritual Isaiah.
5. In 1Pe 2:11-3:7 are exhortations to Christiana as pilgrims, as subjects of human government, as slaves, as husbands, and wives, parents and children. (1) Show, how by the exhortations Christianity is not revolutionary in its teachings on citizenship, slavery and society, and how they correspond with other New Testament teachings on the same points. (2) Show the meaning of such Hebraisms as 1Pe 3:3-22 .
6. What the force of “bare our sins in his body upon the tree,” or in other words, what the scriptural meaning of “to bear sins”?
7. What Peter’s rule of a happy life?
8. On 1Pe 3:18-21 , with 1Pe 4:6 , answer: (1) Does “spirit,” the last word of 1Pe 3:18 , mean Christ’s own human spirit, or the Holy Spirit? (2) How did Christ preach to the antediluvians, i.e., in his own person or by another, and if another, what other? (3) When did he so preach, while the antediluvians were living and disobedient while the ark was preparing and by the Holy Spirit (Gen 6:3 ), or to them in prison after death, either between his death and resurrection, or between his resurrection and ascension, and if to them after their death and imprisonment, what did he preach? (4) Did Christ, as the sinner’s substitute, enter the pangs of hell, when, in the body or out of it, and what the proof? (5) On 1Pe 4:6 , was the gospel preached to the dead before they died, or afterward? (6) Show the difficulties and heresies of interpreting “spirit” in 1Pe 4:18 as Christ’s own spirit and his preaching to men after their death, either between his own death and resurrection, or between his resurrection and ascension. (7) On 1Pe 3:21 , what the meaning of “filth of the flesh,” is it dirt of the body, or the defilement of the carnal nature? And then how does baptism now save us?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
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;
Ver. 1. Christ hath suffered ] As 1Pe 3:18 .
In the flesh ] In human nature; so must we suffer in sinful nature, subduing it to God, and ceasing from sin, hailing it and nailing it to the cross of Christ. First have sin to the cross of Christ; force it before the tree on which he suffered: it is such a sight as sin cannot abide. It will begin to die within us upon the first sight of Christ upon the cross. For the cross of Christ accuseth sin, shameth it, and by a secret virtue feedeth upon the very heart of it. 2. Use sin as Christ was used when he was made sin for us; lift it up, and make it naked by confession to God. And then pierce, 1. The hands of it, in respect of operation, that it may work no more. 2. The feet of it, in respect of progression, that it go no further. 3. The heart, in respect of affection, that it may be loved no longer.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1 6 .] Exhortation, after the forecited example of Christ’s sufferings, to entire separation from the ungodly Gentile world . This passage closes the set of exhortations which began at ch. 1Pe 2:11 , with reference to behaviour towards the heathen world around: and with ch. 1Pe 4:7 , begins a new and concluding set, no longer regarding the world without.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1 .] Christ then having suffered in the flesh (see on above, ch. 1Pe 3:18 . This conclusion takes up again the there, which led to the enlarging on the result of those His sufferings as regarded both Himself and us), do ye also arm yourselves with (put on as armour) the same mind (intent, resolution; scil., to suffer in the flesh, as He did. That this is the sense, is shewn, it appears to me, decisively by and . Those who, as Calv., Beza, Gerh., Beng., Erasm. Schmid, Wiesinger, al., take for ‘ thought ,’ and render the following , ‘ that ,’ can give no adequate interpretation either to or to . The sentence, for them, stands as if it were , . And when obtained, the expression, meaning only ‘remember, that,’ is surely mere rhetorical inflation. Wiesinger denies that ever means “intent” or “resolution;” and refers to Passow to justify his denial. But in Palm and Rost’s edn., the meaning Gesinnung is given, and borne out by Eur. Hel. 1026, , : Isoc., p. 112 D, ( ) ( ), , : Diodor. Sic. ii. 30 says of the Chaldans, that they regard the planets as (var. ). The meaning then is, “arm yourselves also with the same purpose as that which was in Christ”); because (the assigns a reason for the expression : “and ye will need this arming, because, the course of suffering according to the flesh which ye have to undergo ending in an entire freedom from sin, your warfare with sin must be begun and carried on from this time forward”) he that hath suffered in the flesh is made to cease from sin (if actively expressed, the sentence, as Huther remarks, would be (rather ) : he is, by the very fact of having thus suffered, brought to an end with sin has no more to do with it: and by an inference, the suffering in the flesh, and the being made to cease from sin, are commensurate in their progress. Commonly, is taken in a middle sense, and made = : but neither of these is justifiable. On the sense see Rom 6:7 , . Here too there is surely throughout, though Weiss denies it, a presupposition of our being united to the sufferings of Christ, and not merely, ‘quoad’ ourselves, , but by virtue of union with Him, , and so divorced from all sin. That this sentence itself is general, and not to be understood in itself of Christ, is plain: equally plain, that He is the person hinted at in the background, and with reference to whom the general truth is adduced. The general assertion itself, here and in Rom. l. c., is enthymematic, resting on the fact that the flesh is the element of sin, and he that has mortified it by suffering has in the same proportion got rid of sin):
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
11 4:6 .] Exhortations to walk christianly and worthily towards and among those without who speak and act in a hostile manner . Hitherto we have seen them exhorted to walk worthily of their calling as distinguished from their own former walk: now the Apostle exhorts them to glorify God before an ungodly and persecuting world.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
13 4:6 .] Exhortation to right behaviour towards the world in persecutions which come upon them for righteousness’ sake (13 17): and that by the example of Christ (18 22), whose suffering in the flesh, and by consequence whose purity and freedom from sin they are to imitate ( 1Pe 4:1-6 ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Pe 4:1 . Christ having died to flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought that (or because ) he that died hath ceased to sins . Peter goes back to the starting point of 1Pe 3:18 in order to emphasise the import of the first step taken by Christ and His followers, apart now from the consequences. The new life implies death to the old. . . only occurs once elsewhere in N.T., Heb 4:12 , , but is common in LXX of Proverbs; compare ( e.g. ) Pro 2:2 , ( , discernment ) shall keep thee . Here it is the noun-equivalent of (Phi 2:1 ). Christ’s thought ( or purpose ) which He had in dying is shared by the Christian: and it is defined by , . . . , sc. for the fight with sin and sinners whom you have deserted. . This axiom is better taken as explaining the same thought than as motive for . St. Paul states it in other words, ; compare the death-bed confession of the Jew, “O may my death be an atonement for all the sin of which I have been guilty against thee”. One dead literally or spiritually hath rest in respect of sins assumed or committed; so Heb 9:28 insists that after His death Christ is . echoes of 1Pe 3:10 . In the Greek Bible the perfect passive occurs only once (Exo 9:34 ) outside Isa 1:-31 ., where it is used three times to render ( cf. , Heb 4:9 ). The dative . is analogous to that following ( ); the v.l. is due to the common construction of .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1 Peter Chapter 4
Here as in 1Pe 2:24 , our apostle urges death to sins in its practical reality. It is not (as the apostle Paul, in Rom 6 : and elsewhere, teaches) the Christian privilege of having died with Christ to sin, but the duty which flows from His death as a fact in the spiritual realm, that we should no longer serve sin but walk as righteous men after Christ’s example. Both speak to the same end.
“Since Christ then suffered [for us*] in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; because he that suffered in flesh hath ceased from sin, no longer to live the rest of time in flesh to men’s lusts but to God’s will. For the past time [is] sufficient to have wrought out [or, purposed] the will of the Gentiles, walking as ye had done in lasciviousness, lusts, wine-bibbings, revels, carousings, and unhallowed idolatries; wherein they think it strange that ye run not with [them] into the same excess of profligacy, speaking injuriously, who shall render account to him that is ready to judge living and dead. For to this end was the gospel preached to dead men also, that they might be judged according to man in flesh, and live according to God in spirit” (1Pe 4:1-6 ).
* 31 and a few other cursives with Syr. Pesch., read , “for you,” as e A K L P and many more, Memph. and other ancients give , “for us.” B C etc. omit either, and this most critics prefer.
The more ancient MSS. omit , “of life,” and have , not as in ver. 2.
To Messiah, the greatest of all sufferers, the apostle turns the hearts of his brethren. It was all the more impressive that of Him it had been verified to perfection, and in the cross above all. For till the veil was taken from the heart of the righteous remnant, the Jew saw nothing but triumph and glory for Him, as wolf as for His people. And what a large part of Holy Writ bore witness to it! Yet His death was the simplest, plainest, and the most irrefragable proof, that unbelief had hidden from their eyes the divine testimony to His suffering throughout the O.T., Law, Psalms, and Prophets. Risen from the dead He opened the understanding of His disciples to understand the scriptures and thus to judge their own dark onesidedness. As He said to two of them on the resurrection day, “O senseless and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets spoke! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” Long before His crucifixion He had told His disciples of the Son of man being in His day as the lightning shines from under heaven to under heaven to the surprise of a guilty world; “but first he must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation” (Luk 17:24 , Luk 17:25 ).
There was revealed an unequalled Sufferer, not Job, not Joseph, not Moses, nor David, nor Jeremiah, nor any other of the prophets; but all these perhaps in some stage foreshadowing the suffering One to come. But all this is infinitely short of the wondrous truth of the cross. For He, the Holy One of God who knew no sin, was made sin for us, and suffered, not for righteousness as saints might and did, but from God for our sins, as He alone could. And hence, when rejected of the people, betrayed by one apostle, denied by another, forsaken by all (we may say), God forsook Him, as His own lips declared. So it must be if sin was to be adequately judged, and a perfect ground laid in His death to reconcile the foulest sinner to God, cleansing him from every sin by His blood. As the apostle testified to His blood in 1: 18-21, so does he now to the practical power of His suffering to give power against sin: “Arm yourselves with the same mind.” Never had He pleased Himself, though in Him was no sin. Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. Such was His life in every detail; it was a. pure meal-offering, a holy oblation, to God His Father, whose glory He sought in the least thing as in the greatest, and in the humblest, truest, and deepest of all ways – in obedience. And so it was in that with which nothing can compare, in His atoning death, where God had all His nature glorified even as to sin, and made Him sin for us that we might become His righteousness in Christ.
Great, and varied, and infinite are the results of His suffering; yet here the apostle speaks, not of its being the efficacious means of bringing us to God as blameless and spotless as Himself, but of its practical power against sin day by day. “Since Christ then suffered in flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind.” Christ never yielded, but suffered being tempted; holy Himself, He kept sin outside. He had no sin in the human nature which He took. But how were we to be met who had it within and were guilty without? He died for us, yea for our sins; He was forsaken of God that this judgment might be complete; and in this judgment the apostle Paul adds that God condemned the root of all, sin in the flesh, in Him a sacrifice for sin, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to flesh but according to Spirit.
Peter here draws from Christ for the Christian the great abstract principle, “because he that suffered in flesh hath ceased from sin, no longer to live the rest of time in flesh to men’s lusts but to God’s will.” Allowing all the difference between the Saviour and the saved, this truly applies to His followers. When we sin, it is our own will that is active to His dishonour. One suffers in refusing to sin; one judges and hates and thwarts the will of flesh, and suffers, but does not sin. If by grace our mind is set on God’s will at all cost, sin does not enter. It is suffering in flesh, and therein is separation from sin. And this is the simple normal state of the Christian with the heart resting on Him that went down below all depths for him. When the heart loses sight of Him, one shirks suffering, and the will asserts fleshly activity, and actual sin follows. But we are sanctified by the Spirit to the obedience of Jesus, no less than to the sprinkling of His blood. We are left here to do the will of God, now that we are Christ’s.
There is another consideration the apostle sets before us, and truly humbling it is. “For the past time is sufficient to have wrought out the purpose [or, will] of the Gentiles, walking as ye have done in lasciviousness, lusts, wine-bibbings, revels, carousings, end unhallowed idolatries; wherein they think it strange that ye run not together into the same excess of profligacy, speaking injuriously; who shall render account to him that is ready to judge living and dead” (3-5).
There is no doubt that these wicked ways were characteristic of the Gentiles, not of the Jews; but those of the dispersion, living among the heathen, were apt to be corrupted by their environment. Like their fathers of old, the descendants, especially outside the sharp supervision of Palestinian eyes, were too easily drawn into gross lusts and passions, and thence, with a bad conscience shutting out God and His judgment, adopted unhallowed idolatries, such as amulets, charms, and the like. This is what the apostle charges as a fact in former days, on those who now bore the Lord’s name. It was natural for the heathen so to live; it was shocking that such of them as owned Jehovah had so walked: they now knew that they were no better than others. The apostle, while exhorting to consistency with that holy name, reminds the saints that their Gentile neighbours counted it strange that they do not run the same common race of impure and selfish indulgence, so generally linked with idolatrous customs. Instead of approving the change, they indulged injurious imputations, as the world still does in its form of Christendom. In this they but follow the prince of the world, who is a liar and murderer, the marked contrast of Him who is the Truth and the Life-giver, to whom they “shall render account.” But he puts it with all impressive force, when He is described here as “having it in readiness to judge quick and dead.” Can any believer name a single visible event that hinders His coming?
It is indeed a certain, solemn, yet simple truth, that the Lord Jesus Christ is ordained, or determinately appointed, to this office by God. As Peter preached at Caesarea, Paul at Athens declared that God now enjoins men that they shall all everywhere repent, because He has set a day in which He will judge the inhabited earth by the appointed Man, having as pledge to all afforded His raising Him from the dead. To the believer Peter taught in 1Pe 1:21 that His resurrection is to give him faith and hope toward God, delivered from all fear of judgment. To unbelievers, Paul at the Areopagus preached it to be God’s assurance that the day hastens when Christ will judge living men as well as dead: the first when He comes in Hs kingdom, the second just before He gives it up for the eternal state (Rev 20 ). For He who bore our sine in His body on the tree is the same that is now raised from the dead; because God was glorified for the putting away of sin in that sacrifice of Himself, Who is the fore-runner for us entered into that within the veil; as He will come to receive us to Himself, that where He is, there we may be also.
But He is ready to judge, not those even now associated with Him, but “living and dead” who disbelieved and despised Him. He brings salvation to those, judgment to these. How the word of God sweeps away, not doubt only, but delay! “My lord delayeth” is the heart’s language of mere professors. How sad that believers should plead excuses for the unbelief which our Lord stigmatises! True hearts love His appearing and would rather hasten the day, solemn as it is.
It is His judging that is linked with verse 6, and helps to rid it of the difficulties with which superstition loads and darkens it. “For to this end the glad tidings went to dead persons also, that they might be judged according to men in flesh, and live according to God in spirit.” From the hour that man fell by sin under death and judgment, God had in His grace a gospel to shelter and give life according to God; which is therefore in the last book of scripture called “an everlasting gospel.” To this clung faith from the first; and it was added to and cleared gradually throughout the O.T. till the death, resurrection, and glory of Christ gave it fulness. And those who now dead heard it in the course of ages had their responsibility so much the more increased. If they abode in their sins through unbelief, they will be judged by the coming Lord according to men in flesh. Grace exempts from that sorrowful condition by the faith of the glad tidings, and life is in Christ for all who believe, who therefore live to God in spirit. For Christ gives life no less than pardon. Those who feel their need of God’s grace do also submit to the humbling sense that they deserve judgment. Thus it is that repentance and faith ever go together.
We may add that the passage similarly mistaken in 1Pe 3:19 , 1Pe 3:20 does not speak of “glad tidings” like this, and has thus another bearing. It was simply Noah’s proclaiming the coming deluge as “a preacher of righteousness” and affected those who perished for their disobedience and are kept for judgment. But we hear of “glad tidings” here; and therefore as the context proves, it applies to all in the past who have heard the gospel. This if refused left them in their natural state as men in flesh, fallen men, to be judged; while those who by grace heard the good news that was sent live according to God in spirit by virtue of that word which quickens by the faith of Christ, and produces the good fruit proper to that life practically. Any one acquainted with the language must own the strict accuracy with which the apostle Peter, certainly not a man of letters or learning, was led to the precisely accurate and on the one hand, and to the appropriate on the other.
Founded on the Lord’s readiness to judge, in all its solemnity for man, is the reminder of the approaching end of all things which now subsist. This is supposed in such an intervention.
“But the end of all things hath drawn nigh. Be discreet therefore and watch (or, be sober) unto prayers,* and before all things having your love toward each other fervent, for love covereth* a multitude of sins; hospitable toward one another without murmuring;* according as each received a gift, ministering it toward each other as good stewards of God’s various grace: if one speak, [let it be] as oracles of God; if one ministereth, as of strength which God supplieth; that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen” (vers. 7-11).
*The true reading is the plural, and without the article as in Text. Rec. Also “covereth” is right, not “shall cover”; and the singular “murmuring” rather than the plural.
The Holy Spirit keeps as constant and proximate, not only the bright hope of the Lord’s coming for the saints, but the close of man’s day for the earth. The world refuses or ridicules the warning. Even saints forget it as a living word from God for every day; and when mingling with human interests and men’s thoughts, get weary, are ashamed of the truth, apologise for or gloss over the words of the Lord and the apostles, so as in effect to say, like the evil bondman in his heart, “My Lord delayeth:” alike the cause and the consequence of growing worldliness. Even watching for executive providence in the meantime undermines and destroys the separating and heart-elevating power of waiting for Christ.
But the word here flowing out of faith in the impending end of all things is, “Be discreet therefore,” that is of sound mind spiritually; “and watch,” or be sober, “unto prayers:” a very different attitude from absorption in the newspaper, and in each exciting movement west or east, so often to fade and disappoint the superficial readers of prophecy. Hope like faith looks to God, expects in patience, and does not make ashamed. The Christian ought never to forget that he is a Christian, and follows the crucified but glorified One, content – yea rejoicing – to endure till we reign together with Him at His appearing and kingdom. It is not our place to thunder and lighten, as those under the law were bound to do, at the revolt of Israel and at the passing enormities of the Gentile powers. When we are translated, it will be for the godly remnant on earth to take up the cry once more, “How long, Sovereign Master the holy and true, dost not thou judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell upon the earth?” Blessed saints will they be, but no more Christians in the full sense than the O.T. saints before us.
The saints now are exhorted to watch unto prayers; as another apostle bade his dear Philippians, with the Lord at hand, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let their requests be made known unto God. Thus should the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard their hearts and their thoughts in Christ Jesus. Such is true Christian experience. Still more wide and deep is the word in Eph 6 where the apostle says “with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching “hereunto with all perseverance and supplication.”
“But before all things” (for it ought in practice to take precedence of all), he adds, “having your love toward each other fervent, because love covereth a multitude of sins” (ver. 8): this last clause an application of Pro 10:12 . As hatred makes the worst of everything, love is entitled to bury things out of sight; and God endorses it as answering to His own nature. Needless to say that holy discipline retains its needed but sorrowful action.
Next (ver. 9) the apostle would have them, as another form of love, “hospitable unto one another, without murmuring.” Surely grumbling and grudging did not become a holy and a royal priesthood Practical outgoing of heart in this way promotes fellowship, and strengthens the bonds of grace. It yields a fine contrast to man’s selfishness, which seeks its own things, and complains of all else.
Gift too (vers. 10, 11), used according to God, subserves the same end as well as much greater ones, even the perfecting of the saints, for ministerial work, and for building up the body of Christ. But our apostle as usual is eminently direct and practical “As each received a gift,” they were to minister it toward each other, “as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” This is just what human organising hinders. How sad for saints to sanction any meddling with God’s will and ways! It is not the right of each that is pleaded, but the obligation from gifts of God to use whatever it be in responsibility to Him. “It is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1Co 4:2 ) from the greatest to the least: else God’s rights are infringed, and His grace is thus far suppressed.
The apostle divides gifts into two general classes, speaking or service otherwise. “If one speak [let it be] as oracles of God.” This does not merely mean according to scripture; which might be misdirected, and thus even do harm; as e.g. encouraging, when reproof was due, or the inverse. Not even a gifted man ought to speak without the assurance of God’s mind for the moment and case in hand. How much would be spared, were this divine rule truly felt! Then again, “If one ministereth, as of the strength which God supplieth.” Creature advantages might be a snare on both sides. Even in temporal service, which is thus distinguished from the word, the right strength is that which comes from God, and not human ability, attainment, rank, or wealth. We may compare with this latter “ministry,” “giving,” and “showing mercy” in Rom 12 , and “helps” in 1Co 12 . It is remarkable how scripture in this differs, as usual, from the thoughts and language of Christendom. For so ignored is scripture, even by men zealous in dispensing it in all possible versions throughout the world, that they confine “ministry” to public speaking, and never consider that God thus dignifies all real service which is not of that oral character.
But “gifts” in either way are so designated by inspiration; and their free and holy exercise claimed as coming from such a donor; “that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is (not merely “be”) the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen.” For thus the fervent spirit of the apostle poured itself out, as he wrote these things to the saints in Asia Minor; and God has kept them for us also.
The apostle next turns definitely to suffering of the severest kind which they were called to endure, not as a question of right or wrong, which any upright brother might and does face, but for Christ’s name which in a greater degree draws on faith.
“Beloved, be not surprised at (count not strange) the fire among you that cometh for your trial, as though a strange thing were happening to you; but inasmuch as ye share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that in the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice exultingly. If ye are reproached in Christ’s name, blessed [are ye], because the [Spirit] of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you: [on their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified]” (vers. 12-14).
Blessed is a man that endureth temptation or trial, and the more fiery it may be, the more blessed he that endures; because when thus proved he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those that love Him. The danger is of entering into temptation, as even the apostle knew too sadly, when he forgot the Lord’s warning in the confidence of his own love, and denied Him thrice. But grace began to restore him, when the Lord re-called to His poor servant His admonitory words, and never stops till he could be so re-instated before his brethren, as to have His sheep and lambs entrusted to his care. Nor was this all. For the redeeming work of Christ so completely purged him, as it does every worshipper (Heb 10:2 ), that he could boldly charge the men of Israel with their denying the Holy and Just One. Once for all purified, he had no longer any conscience of sins: that sin and every other were effaced for ever. Such is the Christian’s initiatory privilege.
Who then was more fitted than this apostle of the circumcision to strengthen the hearts of his brethren at the fire among them coming for their trial? They should not count it strange but an honour from God, especially as they had, what the apostle had not when he was tried, the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, as the fruit of Christ’s accomplished work. Had not the Lord said to His disciples, “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from them, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as wicked, for the Son of man’s sake”? Had He not bidden them to “rejoice in that day and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is great in heaven, for according to the same things did their fathers to the prophets”?
The apostle had already exhorted them (in 1Pe 2:20 , 1Pe 2:21 ) to endure as a grace and honour if one for conscience toward God endured griefs, suffering wrongfully. For as he admirably argued, what honour is there, if when sinning and buffeted ye shall endure? But if doing good and suffering ye shall endure, this is grace, or acceptable, with God. There too he points to Christ’s suffering for us, as the great model to follow. This he followed up more briefly but with sharp pungency (in 1Pe 3:17 , 1Pe 3:18 ), as better, if God’s will should will it, to suffer as doing good rather than doing evil, with the same One before our hearts in His once for all suffering for sins, as He alone could. Here he goes beyond suffering for righteousness and as well-doers; and in accordance with the fiery persecution in view, he reminds them that inasmuch as ye share, or have fellowship in, the sufferings of Christ, it was theirs to rejoice, that in the revelation of His glory also they may rejoice with exultation. The Spirit was afresh applying what the Lord at the beginning laid down on the mount, the surpassing excellence in His eyes (and who such a judge?) of being reviled and persecuted with every wicked thing lyingly said against them for His sake. Blessed they that were persecuted for righteousness’ sake, because theirs is the kingdom of the heavens (Mat 5:10 ); but in the next verses 11, 12, He rises higher, and addresses personally, and no longer as before in the abstract, “ye” that suffer for His sake. These were to rejoice and exult, because their reward was great in the heavens.
Here too His servant was given to add, “If ye are reproached in Christ’s name, blessed [are ye]; because the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.” Christ was not here, but in the glory of God; and thence came the Spirit, sent by the Father in His name, and by Himself from the Father to abide with them and be in them (Joh 14:15 ). How fitting and full of comfort the reminder! He was the seal of their accomplished redemption, and the earnest of the glory coming to them. He is the Spirit of God, which is more and better than glory. Such was the Spirit that rested on them, both for energy to endure and for joy’ now and evermore. No doubt, it is generally true of all the sons of God, for He is the Spirit of sonship, which believers receive since redemption (Gal 4:4 , Eph 1:13 , Eph 1:14 ); but it is here said with emphasis to sustain the sufferers for Christ’s name. The latter part of the verse is quite true, and said in substance elsewhere; but omitted as the words are by the best MSS. and most ancient Vv. and looking like a gloss, they are here bracketed as of doubtful authority. There is an addition also to the Spirit of glory and of God, “and of power” in AP, more than 30 cursives, some ancient versions, etc., even expanded in ; but the Vatican MS. and other good witnesses oppose; and indeed it seems still less in accord with the context.
The apostle had put forward the sufferings of the saints as fellowship with Christ’s sufferings. They could not share His grace without sharing what this entailed on Him in an evil world where God is hated quite as much as He is dreaded by a bad conscience and an unbelieving heart. They were therefore to count persecution no strange thing, but to be expected where sin pervades and prevails, where darkness is put for light and light for darkness, where good is called evil and evil good, where sweet is accounted bitter and bitter sweet. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the portion of the righteous be but the rejection which their Lord had? The disciple is not above his teacher, nor the bondman above his lord. Every one when perfected shall be as his master. It was saintly privilege and to be accepted with thanks and exultation. It was to be reproached in His name, the Spirit of glory and of God resting on them that their groans might have a divine and unselfish character, and themselves be strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory unto all patience with joy.
Now he turns to the moral side, after an earnest exhortation against the dangers for a Christian in the midst of the worst examples. Assuredly if God judges, it is for good reason; and judge He must, according to His holy nature, what is inconsistent with it, and lifts itself proudly and rebelliously against Himself. Already too men slept, and the enemy sowed darnel, and the evil could not be expelled till the consummation of the age when the Son of man takes it in hand with power and glory. The Holy Spirit was sent for the good news, the saints, the church, but not to apply remedy to the ruin. This is reserved for the Lord who will at His appearing bring in times of restoration of all things, as the prophets spoke and God through them since time began. 2Th 2 , one of the earliest communications to the church, is explicit that the mystery of lawlessness was already at work. This is the succession that is never interrupted, though kept in check by the Spirit of God till He departs, and the apostasy ensues, which culminates in the lawless one fully displayed in his audacious taking of his seat in God’s temple, showing himself that he is God.
Hence says our apostle, “Because the time [is] that judgment begin from the house of God; and if first from us, what [shall be] the end of those that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous is with difficulty saved, where shall the impious and sinful appear? Wherefore also let those that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing* to a faithful Creator” (vers. 17-19).
*The most ancient authorities omit “as.”
So it had been in the awful judgment which befell Jerusalem and the Jews as described by Ezekiel. “Begin at my sanctuary,” said Jehovah, where man assumed indefectibility, and such is the vain confidence of tradition, in the face of the plainest testimonies to the contrary in the Gospels, the Epistles, and the Revelation. The glory of Jehovah refused to dwell in His house defiled by abomination, and yet greater abominations, the last of which was that eastern attitude which has ever stamped the idolator, never the two worshipper of our God and Father. No doubt, salvation ever was of God and in sovereign grace; and this in Christianity is made more evident and indisputable than it ever had been. But God from the first maintained His title to judge every departure from Him; and none ought to be so ready and so thorough in confessing their sins as those who own that all they enjoy and boast is of His grace. Whereas the plague-spot in Christendom, as in Israel, is to claim for its most guilty and apostate state the immunity that belongs to the counsels of grace. Never was Judah loftier in its pretensions and louder in its sense of security than on the eve of unsparing judgment. And now it is still more guiltily the fact with Christendom.
Here it is where even real disciples sadly fail. Party-spirit blinds; for what is Christendom but a scattered group of parties? As another apostle taught, there were schisms even then; and there must be heresies or sects as it really means, the inevitable elect if not corrected by self-judgment; and these we now see all around and unblushing. Those that carry the head highest can hardly deny it. Their own association is of course the true one, if not quite immaculate in their eyes; but they must know of souls on earth more than themselves subject to the word and Spirit of God, devoted to Christ’s name, and separate from the world. This might pierce their conscience, and lead them by grace to discover the overwhelming ruin underneath the haughtiest prejudice. But the darkness which besets all who yield to the fatal assumption of indefectibility in the Christian profession hinders the entrance of divine light as to this into their souls.
Yet the Lord in Mat 13 had given ample warning that the kingdom of the heavens, which He was about to set up, would be characterised by ruin through the enemy’s craft, as the earthly kingdom of old entrusted to Israel had broken down. Only judgment at the Son of man’s appearing could duly rid the field of the darnel here below, But the wheat, taken up to the heavenly granary, should shine forth as the sun in a higher sphere.
The testimony of Paul has been alleged; here before us is that of Peter. Jude is in prophetic vision as distinct and pregnant, as he is brief. “Woe to them, because they went in the way of Cain, and gave themselves up to the misleading of Balaam for hire, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah.” John penetrates deeper than all when he calls it “the last hour” of many antichrists come, the heralds of the antichrist.
But where is this felt by saints generally and confessed with grief before God and with shame before men? If they go so far as to protest against this evil or that, they are satisfied with their part, even though they in fact join in with what they own as deplorable, or alas! seek to explain away.
Let them heed the way of the godly in Israel, though surely the Christian is bound to go farther still and judge more profoundly through far more light. From Moses to Samuel how much is there to learn in presence of the people fighting against God I From Jeremiah and Daniel, from Ezra and Nehemiah, what agony over the remnant’s short-coming, what bearing the burden of all Israel’s sins, of people, priests, and kings! Is the church to have no such sense of responsibility? Is the Christian, because he has eternal life and is justified, to have no sorrow because of the beautiful flock of Christ harried and scattered, and of the rashness, heats, and self-will which oft caused it?
Undoubtedly scripture provides to faith and fidelity a clean path outside corporate as well as individual defilement. But if there be not a spirit mourning and broken that precedes recourse to it and that is kept up ever after, a hard and cold self-righteousness will rush in there, the sure proof of failure that only adds sin to sin, and that forebodes worse evil still. If we are of the church, Christ’s body, it is a heartless thing that we are only to feel what wrong we have personally done. The true principle is that, if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; and of this suffering the spiritual are deeply sensible. But the self-satisfied is quite indifferent. He has his party, and is content. In Christ we see the perfection of His love in this respect as in all others. He bore on His spirit the burden of every woe He relieved by His power: how much more did He feel all the unworthy selfishness which impeded and weighed down His beloved ones! We are entitled and bound by grace to share this divine affection with Him. The faith which refuses sin works by love to warn the saints who yield to it, but also to intercede on their behalf. Christ would have us wash one another’s feet; but what lowliness and love we need to do it aright!
Now if judgment begin from the house of God, as it does and ought (compare Amo 3:2 ), what must be the end of those that obey not the gospel of God? This is the only obedience to which the unforgiven is called. What a proof of blind wickedness that any sinners should refuse! For the gospel of God is the glad news of full remission of his sins in the blood of Jesus. Yet what thousands and millions dare hell-fire rather than believe on Him. What shall their end be?
No wonder that the apostle speaks of the righteous saved with difficulty. Yes, the obstacles are many and immense; and there is no good thing in them, that is, in all naturally theirs, while even as saints, what weakness and exposure! “Who then can be saved'” said the disciples, when they heard of special difficulty for the rich, who, as they thought, had such advantage over all others. But Jesus looking on them with His unfailing love replied, “With men this is,” not difficult, but “impossible”; but ( thanks for ever to His name!) “with God all things are possible.” Salvation is of God, as His is the gospel which proclaims it to everyone, poor or rich, that believes. But all the more appalling is the lot of those who not only violate His law but scorn or neglect His gospel. Where shall the impious and sinful appear?
God is not only the One that raises the dead, as already shown us in Christ for the deliverance of our souls; He does not cease to prove Himself “a faithful Creator” to such as suffer on earth. “Wherefore also let them that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls” to Him thus “in well-doing.” He is fonder to His creatures; how much more to His children, suffering wrongfully for a little while I The sentiment is closely in keeping with the testimony to such Jews as were now Christians.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
1 Peter
CHRISTIAN ASCETICISM
1Pe 4:1-8 .
Christian morality brought two new things into the world–a new type of life in sharp contrast with the sensuality rife on every side, and a new set of motives powerfully aiding in its realisation. Both these novelties are presented in this passage, which insists on a life in which the spirit dominates the flesh, and is dominated by the will of God, and which puts forward purely Christian ideas as containing the motives for such a life. The facts of Christ’s life and the prospect of Christ’s return to judge the world are here urged as the reason for living a life of austere repression of ‘the flesh’ that we may do God’s will.
I. We have, first, in verses 1 and 2, a general precept, based upon the broad view of Christ’s earthly history.
‘Christ hath suffered in the flesh.’ That is the great fact which should shape the course of all His followers. But what does suffering in the flesh mean here? It does not refer only to the death of Jesus, but to His whole life. The phrase ‘in the flesh’ is reiterated in the context, and evidently is equivalent to ‘during the earthly life.’ Our Lord’s life was, in one aspect, one continuous suffering, because He lived the higher life of the spirit. That higher life had to Him, and has to us, rich compensations; but it sets those who are true to it at necessary variance with the lower types of life common among men, and it brings many pains, all of which Jesus knew. The last draught from the cup was the bitterest, but the bitterness was diffused through all the life of the Man of Sorrows.
That life is here contemplated as the pattern for all Christ’s servants. Peter says much in this letter of our Lord’s sufferings as the atonement for sin, but here he looks at them rather as the realised ideal of all worthy life. We are to be ‘partakers of Christ’s sufferings’ 5. 13, and we shall become so in proportion as His own Spirit becomes the spirit which lives in us. If Jesus were only our pattern, Christianity would be a poor affair, and a gospel of despair; for how should we reach to the pure heights where He stood? But, since He can breathe into us a spirit which will hallow and energise our spirits, we can rise to walk beside Him on the high places of heroic endurance and of holy living. Very beautifully does Peter hint at our sore conflict, our personal defencelessness, and our all-sufficient armour, in the picturesque metaphor ‘arm yourselves.’ The ‘mind of Christ’ is given to us if we will. We can gird it on, and if we do, it will be as an impenetrable coat-of-mail, which will turn the sharpest arrows and resist the fiercest sword-cuts.
The last clause of verse 1 is a parenthesis, and, if it is for the moment omitted, the sentence runs smoothly on, especially if the Revised Version’s reading is adopted. The purpose of arming us with the same mind is that, whilst we live on earth, we should live according to the will of God, and should renounce ‘the lusts of men,’ which are in us as in all men, and which men who are not clad in the armour which Christ gives to us yield to.
But what of the parenthetical statement? Clearly, the words which follow it forbid its being taken to mean that dead men do not sin. Rather the Apostle’s thought seems to be that such suffering in daily life after Christ’s pattern, and by His help, is at once a sign that the sufferer has shaken off the dominion of sin, and is a means of further emancipating him from it.
But the two great thoughts in this paragraph are, that the Christian life is one in which God’s will, and not man’s desires, is the regulating force, and that the pattern of that life and the power to copy the pattern are found in Christ, the sufferer for righteousness’ sake.
II. More specific injunctions, entering into the details of the higher life, follow, interwoven, as in the preceding verses, with a statement of the motives which make obedience to them possible to our weakness.
The sins in view are those most closely connected with ‘the flesh’ in its literal meaning, amongst which are included ‘abominable idolatries,’ because gross acts of sensual immorality were inseparably intertwined with much of heathen worship. These sins of flesh were especially rampant among the luxurious Asiatic lands, to which this letter was addressed, but they flooded the whole Roman empire, as the works of poets like Martial and of moralists like Epictetus equally show. But New York or London could match the worst scenes in Rome or Ephesus, and perhaps would not be far behind the foul animalism of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lust and drunkenness are eating out the manhood of our race on both sides of the Atlantic, and, if we have ‘the same mind’ as the suffering Christ, we shall put on the armour for war to the knife with these in society, and for the rigid self-control of our own animal nature.
Observe the strong motives which Peter just touches without expanding. A sad irony lies in his saying that the time past may suffice. The flesh had had enough of time given to it,–had not God a right to the rest? The flesh should have had none; it had had all too much. Surely the readers had had enough of the lower life, more than enough. Were they not sick of it, ‘satisfied’ even to disgust? Let us look back on our wasted years, and give no more precious moments to serve the corruptible flesh. Further, the life of submission to the animal nature is characteristic of ‘the Gentiles,’ and in sharp contrast, therefore, to that proper to Christ’s followers. That is as true to-day, in America and England, as ever it was. Indeed, as wealth has increased, and so-called ‘civilisation’ has diffused material comforts, senseless luxury, gluttony, drunkenness, and still baser fleshy sins, have become more flagrantly common in society which is not distinctively and earnestly Christian; and there was never more need than there is to-day for Christians to carry aloft the flag of self-control and temperance in all things belonging to ‘the flesh.’
If we have the mind of Christ, we shall get the same treatment from the world which Peter says that the primitive Christians did from the idolaters round them. We shall be wondered at, just as a heathen stared with astonishment at this strange, new sect, which would have nothing to do with feasts and garlands and wine-cups and lust disguised as worship. The spectacle, when repeated to-day, of Christians steadfastly refusing to share in that lower life which is the only life of so many, is, perhaps, less wondered at now, because it is, thank God! more familiar; but it is not less disliked and ‘blasphemed.’ A total abstainer from intoxicants will not get the good word of the distiller or brewer or consumer of liquor. He will be called faddist, narrow, sour-visaged, and so on and so on. ‘You may know a genius because all the dunces make common cause against him,’ said Swift. You may know a Christian after Christ’s pattern because all the children of the flesh are in league to laugh at him and pelt him with nicknames.
Further, the thought of Christ as the judge should both silence the blasphemers and strengthen the blasphemed to endure. That judgment will vindicate the wisdom of those who sowed to the spirit and the folly of those who sowed to the flesh. The one will reap corruption; the other, life everlasting.
The difficult verse 6 cannot be adequately dealt with here, but we may note that introductory ‘for’ shows that it, too, contains a motive urging to life, ‘to the will of God,’ and that no such motive appears in it if it is taken to mean, as by some, that the gospel is preached after death to the dead. Surely to say that ‘the gospel was preached also or, even to them that are dead’ is not to say that it was preached to them when dead.
Peter’s letter is of late enough date to explain his looking back to a generation now passed away, who had heard it in their lifetime. Nor does one see how the meaning of ‘in the flesh,’ which belongs to the phrase in the frequent instances of its occurrence in this context, can be preserved in the clause ‘that they might be judged according to men in the flesh,’ unless that means a judgment which takes place during the earthly life.
We note, too, that the antithesis between being judged ‘according to men in the flesh,’ and living ‘according to God in the spirit’ recalls that in verse 2 between living in the flesh to the lusts of men and to the will of God. It would appear, therefore, that the Apostle’s meaning is that the very aim of the preaching of the gospel to those who are gone to meet the Judge was that they might by it be judged while here in the flesh, in regard to the lower life ‘according to men’ or, as verse 2 has it, ‘to the lusts of men’, and, being so judged, and sin condemned in their flesh, might live according to God in their spirits. That is but to say in other words that the gospel is meant to search hearts, and bring to light and condemn the lusts of the flesh, and to impart the new life which is moulded after the will of God.
III. The reference to Christ as the judge suggests a final motive for a life of suppression of the lower nature,–the near approach of the end of all things.
The distinct statement by our Lord in Act 1:7 excludes the knowledge of the time of the end from the revelation granted to the Apostles, so that there need be no hesitation in upholding their authority, and yet admitting their liability to mistake on that point. But the force of the motive is independent of the proximity of the judgment. Its certainty and the indefiniteness of the time when we each shall have to pass into the other state of being are sufficient to preserve for each of us the whole pressure of the solemn thought that for us the end is at hand, and to enforce thereby Peter’s exhortation, ‘Be ye therefore of sound mind.’
The prospect of that end will sweep away many illusions as to the worth of the enjoyments of sense, and be a bridle on many vagrant desires. Self-control in all regions of our nature is implied in the word. Our various faculties are meant to be governed by a sovereign will, which is itself governed by the Divine will; and, if we see plain before us the dawning of the day of the Lord, the vision will help to tame the subordinate parts of ourselves, and to establish the supremacy of the spirit over the flesh. One special form of that general self-control is that already enjoined,–the suppression of the animal appetites, especially the abstinence from intoxicants. That form of self-control is especially meant by the second of these exhortations, ‘Be sober.’ How could a man lift the wine cup to his lips, and drown his higher nature in a flood of drunken riot, if the end, with its solemnities of judgment, blazed before his inner eye? But this self-command is inculcated that we may be fit to pray. These lower appetites will take all desire for prayer and all earnestness in it out of us, and only when we keep the wings of appetites close clipped will the pinions grow by which we can mount up with wings as eagles. A praying drunkard is an impossible monster.
But exhortations to self-control are not all. We have to think of others, as well as of our own growth in purity and spirituality. Therefore Peter casts one swift glance to the wider circle of the brethren, which encompasses each of us, and gives the all-embracing direction, which carries in itself everything. ‘Fervent love’ to our fellow-Christians is the counterpoise to earnest government of ourselves. There is a selfishness possible even in cultivating our religion, as many a monk and recluse has shown. Such love as Peter here enjoins will save us from the possible evils of self-regard, and it will ‘cover the multitude of sins,’–by which is not meant that, having it, we shall be excused if we in other respects sin, but that, having it, we shall be more desirous of veiling than of exposing our brother’s faults, and shall be ready to forgive even when our brother offends against us often. Perhaps Peter was remembering the lesson which he had once had when he was told that ‘seventy times seven’ was not too great a multitude of sins against brotherly love to be forgiven by it in one day.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Pe 4:1-6
1Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. 4In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; 5but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.
1Pe 4:1 “Therefore” This links the previous discussion to what follows.
“Christ has suffered in the flesh” This relates to 1Pe 3:18. Flesh refers to Jesus’ physical life. He was really one of us (i.e., human). He died in our place (cf. 1Pe 4:18; Isaiah 53; Mar 10:45; 2Co 5:21). 1 Peter emphasizes Christ’s suffering (cf. 1Pe 2:21; 1Pe 2:23; 1Pe 3:18; 1Pe 4:1) and the reality of His followers’ suffering because they are following Him (cf. 1Pe 2:19-20; 1Pe 3:14; 1Pe 3:17; 1Pe 4:15; 1Pe 4:19; 1Pe 5:10).
The substitutionary nature of Christ’s suffering mentioned in 1Pe 3:18; 1Pe 2:21 is accentuated by several Greek manuscripts adding “suffered for you” (i.e., ) or “for us” (i.e., c, A, K, and P).
The same type of pronoun specifying addition can also be seen in 1Pe 4:3. Early church scribes tried to clarify their texts.
“arm yourselves also” This is an aorist middle imperative. “Arm” is a military term for putting on heavy armor and preparing for battle. There is a spiritual conflict in our daily lives (cf. Eph 6:10-20; Rom 13:12; 1Th 5:8).
“with the same purpose” Jesus’ attitude toward suffering, including innocent suffering, is that it is normative for the godly in a spiritually fallen world (cf. Joh 15:20; Rom 8:17; Php 1:29; 2Ti 3:12; 1Pe 4:12-19).
“because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” This phrase can be interpreted in several ways depending on the grammatical form. Christ is our example in suffering innocently, even vicariously (aorist active participle). Believers are now involved in suffering because of their identification with Him.
The main verb can be either middle (A. T. Robertson’s Word Pictures of the New Testament, p. 121) or passive (Moulton’s Analytical Greek Lexicon and Barbara and Tim Friberg’s Analytical Greek New Testament). If it is middle it is encouraging believers to be actively involved in not sinning as followers of Christ’s example. If passive it is emphasizing the spiritual fact of the believer’s deliverance from the power of sin.
Death annuls one’s relationship to sin. This may be connected to the theological concepts of Romans 6. Death to the old life brings potential service to God (cf. Rom 6:2; Rom 6:6-7) or baptism symbolizes one’s newness of life (cf. Rom 6:4; Col 2:12).
The whole point is that as believers follow Christ’s example of suffering, so too, His example of victory over sin. We are new creatures in Christ! We must live like it. Christlikeness is the will of God (cf. Rom 8:28-29; 2Co 3:18; 2Co 7:1; Gal 4:19; Eph 1:4; Eph 4:13; 1Th 3:13; 1Th 4:3; 1Th 4:7; 1Th 5:23; 1Pe 1:15). It reflects the fact that the image of God lost in the Fall (cf. Genesis 3) is fully restored in Christ. Christians have a choice again on how they will live. They are no longer slaves of sin! Walk in Him!
1Pe 4:2 “so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men” This reflects the same theological truth as Romans 6. Believers have died to sin and are now alive to God’s service (cf. Rom 6:20). Salvation is a new life, a new creation. It has observable characteristics.
“but for the will of God” See Special Topic: The Will of God at 1Pe 2:15.
1Pe 4:3 This verse is a condemnation of the readers’ previous lives in paganism. This is one of the verses that causes commentators to assert that the churches to which Peter is writing are mostly Gentile congregations. Pagan society was very immoral, even in its worship practices. Christianity should make a noticeably different and dramatic change in lifestyle habits. This change is often the beginning of the persecution by other pagans. Sin loves company.
After the opening “for,” some Greek texts add “you” and others “us.” These are both scribal additions trying to clarify the author’s phrasing.
SPECIAL TOPIC: VICES AND VIRTUES IN THE NT
“having pursued a course of” This is a perfect middle participle. Unbelievers have purposefully and permanently set their course on self and sin.
NASB”sensuality”
NKJV, NRSV”licentiousness”
TEV”indecency”
NJB”behaving in a debauched way”
This term implies a total lack of self control, a determined violation of social norms, especially in the sexual area (cf. Mar 7:22; Rom 13:13; 2Co 12:21; Gal 5:19; Eph 4:19; 1Pe 4:3; 2Pe 2:7; 2Pe 2:18; Jud 1:6).
“lusts” This term means to strongly desire something or someone. The intense craving can be positive (cf. Luk 22:15; 1Ti 2:1; 1Pe 1:12), but usually it is negative (cf. 1Pe 1:14; 1Pe 2:11; 1Pe 4:2-3; 2Pe 1:4; 2Pe 2:10; 2Pe 2:18; 2Pe 3:3; Mar 4:19).
“drunkenness” This is a compound term, found only here in the NT of “wine” (oinos) and “bubble over” (phlu). The ancient world drank wine regularly, as did Jesus (cf. Mat 11:18-19) and the early church. It is the excess that is condemned (cf. Pro 23:29-35; Rom 13:13; Gal 5:21).
SPECIAL TOPIC: BIBLICAL ATTITUDES TOWARD ALCOHOL AND ALCOHOLISM
NASB”carousing”
NKJV”revelries”
NRSV”revels”
TEV”orgies”
This term kmos is related to the Greek term for village, km. It implies a large community-wide festive party involving excess of eating, drinking, and unrestrained sexual activity (cf. Rom 13:13; Gal 5:21).
“drinking parties” This term is related to the previous term. The NJB combines them into “having wild parties and drunken orgies.”
NASB, NKJV”abominable idolatries”
NRSV”lawless idolatry”
TEV”the disgusting worship of idols”
NJB”sacrilegiously worshiping false gods”
This list of sins relates to pagan worship practices that often involved excess of drinking, eating, and sexual immorality of the most base kind. It was similar to the Canaanite fertility worship so condemned in the OT.
1Pe 4:4 This verse relates to 1Pe 2:12; 1Pe 2:15; 1Pe 3:16. Christians were misunderstood and attacked because (1) their lives and priorities changed so obviously and radically that family, friends, and neighbors noticed and (2) some of the Christian terms and practices were misinterpreted (i.e., love feasts as incest, Lord’s Supper as cannibalism, etc.).
1Pe 4:5 “they will give account to Him who is ready to judge” Judgment is certain (cf. Mat 12:36; Heb 9:27; Heb 10:27; 2Pe 2:4; 2Pe 2:9; 2Pe 3:7). The one who judges is
1. God (cf. Rom 2:2-3; Rom 14:10; Rom 14:12; 1Pe 1:17; 1Pe 2:23; Rev 20:11-15)
2. Christ (cf. Joh 9:39; Mat 16:27; Mat 25:31-46; Act 10:42; Act 17:31; 2Co 5:10; 2Ti 4:1)
3. the Father through the Son (cf. Joh 5:22-27; Act 17:31; Rom 2:16)
Judgment is an unpleasant subject, but a recurrent theme in the Bible. It is based on several bedrock biblical truths.
1. This is a moral universe created by an ethical God (we reap what we sow, cf. Gal 6:7).
2. Humanity is fallen; we have rebelled.
3. This is not the world God intended it to be.
4. All conscious creations (angels and humans) will give an accounting to their Creator for the gift of life. We are stewards.
5. Eternity will be permanently determined by our actions and choices made in this life.
“living and the dead” This means all humans, both those who are alive and those who have already died (cf. Php 2:10; Rev 2:13).
1Pe 4:6 “For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead” There are several theories concerning this phrase:
1. it relates to 1Pe 3:18-20 (i.e., “the spirits in prison”)
2. it refers to all humans because all humans, believers and unbelievers, die physically because of sin (parallel to 1Pe 4:5)
3. it refers to those who responded to the gospel but have since died (both aorist passives)
4. it refers to the spiritually dead (i.e., the lost) according to Augustine, Bede, Erasmus, and Luther (cf. Luk 15:24; Luk 15:32; Eph 2:1; Eph 2:5; Eph 5:14; Col 2:13)
This last theory speculates that some (i.e., those who never heard the gospel) will receive a chance to accept Christ after death. This theory is attractive to human reason, but totally foreign to the rest of Scripture (i.e., Heb 9:27). It negates the urgency and necessity of evangelism and missions now! I think option 1 or 3 best fits the context.
“they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit” This phrasing is very similar to the description of Jesus in 1Pe 3:18. It confirms the reality of an afterlife. The Bible is explicit about a resurrection of both the saved and lost (cf. Dan 12:2; Mat 25:46; Joh 5:28-29; Act 24:15).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Christ. App-98.
for us. The texts omit.
in the flesh. Greek. sarki, as 1Pe 3:18.
arm yourselves . . . with = put on as armour. Greek. hoplizomai. Only here. Compare Rom 6:13.
likewise = also.
mind. Greek. ennoia. See Heb 4:12.
in the flesh. The Received text (App-94) has en, but the texts omit.
sin. App-128. Compare Rom 6:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1-6.] Exhortation, after the forecited example of Christs sufferings, to entire separation from the ungodly Gentile world. This passage closes the set of exhortations which began at ch. 1Pe 2:11, with reference to behaviour towards the heathen world around: and with ch. 1Pe 4:7, begins a new and concluding set, no longer regarding the world without.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Chapter 4
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us ( 1Pe 4:1 )
That is, has gone to the cross.
in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that has suffered ( 1Pe 4:1 )
Or come to the cross as far as His flesh is concerned.
hath ceased from sin ( 1Pe 4:1 );
Now this is the same rationale that Paul had in Romans chapter six. As far as baptism is concerned, as far as my old man being crucified with Christ, dead, buried in the water of baptism; as I come up it’s the resurrection, it’s the new life in the Spirit. And they who are really living the new life in the Spirit have ceased from sin. Paul said, “How are we, who are dead to sin, going to live any longer therein” ( Rom 6:2 ). John tells us in his epistle, and we’ll be getting that a couple of weeks, that “whosoever is born of God does not practice sin” ( 1Jn 3:9 ), because we have God’s seed now in us. We’ve been born again by the Spirit of God and we cannot practice sin.
Now if you are living a life of practicing sin, then you have better take inventory. The Bible says, “He that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” ( 1Co 10:12 ). “There is a way that seems right unto man, but the end thereof is the way of death” ( Pro 14:12 ). Whosoever is born of God does not practice sin. We’ve been born of a new nature, not a sinful nature anymore. You can’t lay it on the past, the old nature, because that nature died. And whosoever then has come to the cross has suffered and that is, co-crucifixion with Jesus. “I am crucified with Christ” ( Gal 2:20 ). Is then dead to the old life of sin. The flesh hath ceased from sin.
That he no longer should live the rest of his life in the flesh following the lusts of men, but he is to live now to fulfill the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the heathen, when we walked in lasciviousness, and lusts, in the excess of wine, in revellings, in banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange now that you do not run with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you ( 1Pe 4:2-4 ):
So it used to be that we lived the unbridled life of the flesh; a life of lasciviousness and unbridled lust, revellings, the excess of wine, banquetings, abominable idolatries. A good description of the world scene. And those that are in the world think it’s strange that you don’t do it anymore. What do you do for fun now, man? You ever had them ask you that? You know, what do you do for fun? You know, you don’t get bombed out of your head and make a fool of yourself. So what do you do for fun? And they say, “Ah man, he’s got religion, you know, he’s no fun anymore.” They speak evil of you. But they are going to have to give an account to God themselves. Every man must appear before God, give an account.
They’re going to have to account for their lies before the One who will judge both the living and the dead. It’s an awesome thing to realize that one day each man will stand before God to be judged. And those that have lived a life of riotousness, lasciviousness, are one day going to have to answer to God for a totally wasted life. What did you do with your life? And they’ve taken God’s precious gift, the gift of life, and they’ve wasted it. Wasted it upon themselves, upon their own lust, their own desires.
For this cause was the gospel preached also to those that are already dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer ( 1Pe 4:6-7 ).
The church has always lived in the consciousness that we are in the last days. And in a sense, that is always true. Every generation is the last days. I’m living in my last days, you know, I’m going to go. If the Lord doesn’t come to take the church, it’s going to be the last days for me one of these days. You know, who knows? Twenty, thirty, five years from now? Last days.
You know, our days are all limited. When I was a young person it seemed like, you know, life was forever; but now you begin to number your days because you want to use what time you have to the best advantage for the kingdom of God. So that’s basically what Peter is saying. He’s getting older now and he is coming from a more matured view. The end of all things is at hand. And it was for Peter, not long after this, he was beheaded by Nero. “Be therefore sober, watching and praying.”
And above all things have fervent love among yourselves ( 1Pe 4:8 ):
Among the body of Christ there should be a fervent love.
for love covers a multitude of sins ( 1Pe 4:8 ).
How true that is. How many things we can just overlook if we love hard enough. How many things we don’t see because we love, and how many things we can see when we hate. I mean, we watch like eagles. And every little thing we’re ready to pounce on. But love fervently in the body of Christ.
Be hospitable 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 ( 1Pe 4:9-10 ).
Now God has given to each of us gifts, and interestingly enough, there was a gift of hospitality. And there are some people who have that gift of hospitality and they make marvelous hosts and hostesses. You know, they can just have anybody in and they just have that gift of hospitality. Others don’t have the gift of hospitality and it’s a strain whenever people come over; they get tense, they get nervous. And if you ever seen the person with the gift of hospitality; hey, they don’t worry about what they’re serving, nothing bother them. They don’t have to be perfect, just lay it out on the table. Everybody grab what you want, you know, and you’ll feel comfortable. But those that don’t have the gift, you go there and you feel strain, you know. I want to make sure you’ll eat proper and spill in my shirt, you know, and you only take one of the little hors d’oeuvres and you know. And you always feel under pressure.
But we each of us have various gifts. Use your gifts for the whole body’s sake, that the body might be benefited by the gifts that God has given to you, being good stewards of that which God has entrusted to you. God has given to each of us, entrusted to us gifts, abilities, talents. Now I want to be a good steward of that which God has given to me. I want to use it, use it well. It’s been entrusted to me and I’m responsible.
And if any man speaks, let him speak as the oracle of God ( 1Pe 4:11 );
Or as a spokesman for God.
if any man ministers [that is, serves], let him do it with the ability which God gives to him ( 1Pe 4:11 ):
That’s so important, you know. You can’t be more than what God has enabled you to be. So just do it with the ability that God gives you and then don’t worry about it. You’ve got to learn to just do our best and then just commit the rest. Now this is hard for a person who is a perfectionist. They do their best and then they worry about the rest. Why didn’t I say this? Why didn’t I do that? Oh, did I do the right thing? Oh, you know. And they’re constantly worried about what they have done. Hey, was it your best? Oh my, yes you know. So, let it go. God doesn’t require more than your best. So “whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all to the glory of God” ( 1Co 10:31 ). So “if you speak, speak as a spokesman for God. If you minister, do it with the ability God gives.”
that God in all things may be glorified ( 1Pe 4:11 )
You see, it isn’t to bring glory to you. As we minister, we need to minister to bring glory to God.
through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Now beloved, don’t think it’s strange concerning the fiery trials which are going to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you ( 1Pe 4:11-12 ):
Boy, one of the weirdest things happened to me the other day. I went through one of the worst trials. Hey, no, no, no; it’s not strange the fact that your faith is going to be tried.
Rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy ( 1Pe 4:13 ).
Jesus is coming again to be revealed in glory before the world and those that are His will, He bring with Him at His coming. Great gladness and joy, exceeding joy in that day when we come with Jesus to establish God’s kingdom upon the earth. And so rejoice that we were able to suffer with Him that we might reign with Him.
If you’re reproached for the name of Christ, oh, how blessed you are; for the spirit of glory and of God is resting upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters ( 1Pe 4:14-15 ).
In other words, there are things that you are blessed for suffering for, and there are things that you’re not so blessed if you suffer for them. If you’re a thief and you’re caught and you, you know, get sent to jail, it’s no big glory in that.
Yet if any man suffers as a Christian ( 1Pe 4:16 ),
Jesus said, Persecuted for my sake and the gospel’s.
let him not be ashamed; let him glorify God on this behalf ( 1Pe 4:16 ).
And of course, in those days many of them were put in prison for being Christians. Now if you’re put in prison because you’re a murderer, no big glory. But if you’re put into prison because you’re a Christian, then you know, rejoice; that’s great, that’s good. Now if you were arrested for being a Christian, could they find enough evidence to convict you? Something to think about.
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it begins with us, what shall the end be to those that obey not the gospel ( 1Pe 4:17 )?
I mean, if God is going to judge the believer, what about those who don’t even believe?
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator ( 1Pe 4:18-19 ).
Now this suffering, of course, is going back, the whole context is suffering persecution because you’re a child of God. And if you suffer persecution because you’re a child of God, then just commit your life to God, the keeping of your souls to God. He’s a faithful Creator. And you’ve got to just learn to just commit yourself.
Chapter 5 “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
1Pe 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 Saviour 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:
1Pe 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.
1Pe 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 past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles,
1Pe 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 worlds verdict concerning Christians is of little value.
1Pe 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 Christs 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.
1Pe 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.
1Pe 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 lords 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.
1Pe 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 Christs sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
If you do not share in Christs 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 Saviour 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
This exposition consisted of readings from Psa 88:10-18; and 1Pe 4:1-13.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
1Pe 4:1. , Christ) who is the Lord of glory.-, with the flesh) Shortly afterwards, , in the flesh.-[35]) arm yourselves, against enemies.-) because. This is that continual subject of reflection. Altogether, comp. Rom 6:6-11.-) has obtained a cessation, freedom.
[35] , the same mine) viz. of suffering with willingness.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Pe 4:1-6
8. CHRIST AN EXAMPLE OF SUFFERING
1Pe 3:18-22 and 1Pe 4:1-6
1 Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; –“Forasmuch then” establishes a logical connection with matters earlier mentioned by the apostle, and, in particular, Christ’s sufferings. (1Pe 3:18.) Peter exhorted his readers, in imitation of the motives which influenced the Lord to “arm” themselves with the “same mind.” “Mind” (ennoia) refers to the thoughts, the will; and the meaning is that Christians are to be influenced by the same purposes, thoughts, and intentions which characterized the Saviour in the sufferings which he endured. In view of the fact that Peter was addressing saints who were soon to pass through the fiery ordeal of persecution they were to protect themselves in the fray with the only effective armor available to them, the purposes which motivated Christ under similar trials. This armor consisted in an unwavering faith in the righteousness of his cause and patient resignation in whatever might befall him here.
For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; –Of similar import is Paul’s statement: “For he that hath died is justified from sin.” (Rom 6:7.) To indicate that suffering is not an unmitigated evil, Peter directed attention to the fact that one who suffers in the flesh is made to cease from sin. Obviously this does not include all suffering, or suffering by all people the contectual limits indicate that it is the suffering of righteous people in imitation of Christ that is here contemplated. One who has embraced the mind of Christ, and whose life is so influenced by him that he suffers persecution is not in danger of succumbing to the weaker temptations of the flesh. To such an individual these allurements lose their appeal. Martyrs, in the hour of persecution and death, do not toy with temptation or surrender to the seductions of the world!
2 That ye should no longer live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.–“That” introduced the purpose clause which follows, and which is closely connected with the verb “arm” in the preceding verse. The meaning is, “Arm yourselves with the mind of Christ in order that ye may no longer live in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” “In the flesh” refers to the period of bodily existence in the world, and “the rest of your time” to that portion of it remaining for such sojourn. “Lusts” denotes passionate desires and is here used to indicate those that are evil. “Lusts of men” is put in contrast with “the will of God” which will, when followed, becomes the only effective defence against such desires. “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication . . . not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God.” (1Th 4:3; 1Th 4:5.)
3 For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles,–The tense of the verbs in this verse is significant. “Past” is, in the Greek, a perfect participle, and “have wrought” a perfect infinitive, indicating that the period under consideration had been terminated and closed. The statement is one of irony, and means that enough time, and more than enough, had already been given to ungodly living such as was generally characteristic of the Gentiles of that period. For a similar admonition from Paul, see Rom 13:11-12.
And to have walked in lasciviousness, lusts, winebibbings, revellings, carousings, and abominable idolatries:–The Gentiles (a figurative term indicative of the great unregenerate and heathen world) are said to have “walked” in the sins enumerated, not only because life itself is a journey, but because there is a disposition for those engaging in such to go on from sin to sin, each departure leading to deeper degradation. “Lasciviousness” (aselgeia), a plural term in the Greek text, embraces the unbridled lusts and excesses of the age–outward actions and overt deeds as distinguished from the “lusts” (epithumia, desires) which are inwardly entertained. “Winebibbings” (oinophlugia) from oinos, wine, and phluo, to bubble up, to overflow, is a vivid picture of drunkenness; “revellings” (komos) was first used innocently of village merrymaking, but later came to be applied to rioting, drinking parties, and is so used here; “carousings” (potos) were drinking matches in which each participant sought to outdo all others engaging; and the “abominable idolatries” were licentious and drunken parties in which not only fleshly sins were engaged in, but also idolatrous worship. The first three sins designated by the apostle are primarily personal sins; the last three are social evils, and all common to the unregenerate world of the first century.
4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:– Because the unconverted people of that period were utterly unrestrained in their conduct and did not regard the acts enumerated in the fore-going verse as objectionable, they looked with astonishment on the refusal of Christians to participate with them, considering them anti-social, unfriendly, and bigoted. The words “run not with them into the same excess of riot” are significant and impressive. “Run” denotes more than mere association; it indicates eagerness of participation and fellowship in the vices mentioned. “Excess” is from a term which means, literally, an overflowing, and in classical Greek referred to gutters suddenly swollen from rains which poured their contents into common sewers. The picture is one of depraved and abandoned groups wildly rushing into filthy and ungodly excesses in a whirlpool of sin. Those thus engaged “speak evil” (literally, blaspheme) Christians for their refusal to engage with them in such.
5 Who shall give an account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead.–“Who” is in apposition to the participle translated “speaking evil” and establishes what is taught clearly elsewhere (Mat 25:31-46), that the wicked will eventually answer in judgment for their evil conduct here. These who demanded an accounting for the conduct of Christians about them would themselves be required one day to render an accounting for their own lives. The “living and the dead” is a comprehensive statement embracing all men, whether alive or in the tomb, and was designed to indicate the universality of the judgment. (2Co 5:10.)
6 For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.–The words “for unto this end” indicate the purpose or object for which the gospel was preached to the dead, viz., that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. That which was preached was the “gospel,” God’s power to save (Rom 1:16); and the preaching thereof was to “the dead,” dead and in the spirit land when Peter wrote, but alive and in the world when the gospel was preached to them. As a result of having heard this preaching, they obeyed the gospel and became Christians; but they had since died, and were thus dead when the epistle was written. While they lived they too were subjected to the evil speaking which Peter’s readers were then suffering.; and they, although judged and condemned by “men in the flesh” because of their faithfulness and fidelity to the cause, lived according to God in the spirit, i.e., in the higher, nobler life of the spirit. Such we conceive to be the meaning of what is doubtless one of the most controversial and difficult passages in the Bible. That these to whom the gospel was preached were not the same as those contemplated in 1Pe 3:19-20, follows from the fact that those who were the objects of Noah’s preaching rejected that patriarch’s warnings and perished in disobedience in the flood; whereas, these who were the objects of the preaching to which Peter refers had accepted the gospel, and, though dead, had the approbation of God in the spirit realm.
Commentary on 1Pe 4:1-6 by N.T. Caton
1Pe 4:1-Forasmuch, then, as Christ has suffered.
It being a fact that Christ suffered for us in the flesh, it is a strong reason why you should make every effort to secure your own salvation. You are engaged in a warfare. Your enemies are the world, the flesh and the devil. These must be resisted. You must be properly equipped for this struggle.
1Pe 4:1-Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.
The mind is the necessary means for successful resistance. Christ performed the will of his Father even unto suffering the death of the cross, and was afterwards seated in glory. Doing the will of the Father is to have and be armed with the mind of Christ. Like mind and like determination in us will result in our victory over all our enemies, and insure to us the consequent reception by the Father, and the bestowal upon us by him of the reward of eternal life.
1Pe 4:2-That he no longer should.
Having taken a stand for Christ, we thereby announce that sin has no longer any claims upon us. We cease to sin. This is our claim and our duty. We live no longer in the lusts of the flesh. We owe to them no allegiance whatever. It is now an enemy to us, and as such we are fighting against it. The will of God is against the lusts of the flesh, and we are living now as subjects to God’s will, and by that will we are governed and controlled.
1Pe 4:3-For the time past of our life.
The life we lived before conversion in all the excesses indulged in by the Gentiles is here alluded to. These excesses were in accord with our wills and desires at the time we engaged with the Gentiles therein. For us that has been sufficient. Being enlightened now by the gospel of Christ, we no longer so walk, we no longer so conduct ourselves, and we cannot and at the same time obey God.
1Pe 4:4-Wherein they think it strange.
The Gentiles think it strange that we do not continue to commit these excesses with them as we did before our conversion to Christ, and for this reason these Gentiles speak evil of us.
1Pe 4:5-Who shall give an account.
These unconverted ones who speak evil of us will be required to give an account, not only for the excesses in which they indulge, but also for the wrongs they do to us and for all their evil speaking against us.
1Pe 4:5-To him who is ready to judge.
The account the Gentiles will be required to give will be to one appointed as Judge; even to Jesus Christ. Paul says: “He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath appointed; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Act 17:31). Jesus will be the Judge. It is so ordained. God has appointed him to be the Judge.
1Pe 4:5-The quick and the dead.
By the quick the apostle means the living. By the dead he refers to those who once lived on the earth, and have passed away in the ordinary and natural manner. All that once lived, as well as the living, will be judged.
1Pe 4:6-For this cause was the gospel preached to them.
The gospel was preached to them that were dead in Peter’s day, because all men are to be judged, and thus no partiality shown. There is no respecter of persons with God.
All will be judged. Hence the gospel must be preached to all. Here we are liable to be misled by a word-gospel.
When this word “gospel” is used, we are apt to think of the gospel of Christ. By the use made of the word by the religious world, it is so almost exclusively employed; become crystallized, so to speak. This exclusive sense is not inherent in the word “gospel.” From the days of Adam all along the ages until Christ came, from time to time a message was received by man from God. That message was news, joyful news, glad tidings, joyful message, gospel. This is the import of the word. The antediluvians received a message from the court of heaven. It was a gospel to them. After the flood, and during the days of Abraham and on down to the giving of the law from Sinai’s smoking summit, messages from God were received. These were glad tidings-a gospel -to be observed and obeyed. Finally, the full development of God’s gracious purpose in man’s salvation burst upon an astonished world when that most wonderful of all announcements was made: “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Act 2:36). The development is complete now. The news is full. Partial light was given as God saw fit, and duties imposed to correspond to the light given.
It may be said truthfully, however, that in all ages the basis of acceptance with God has been the same. The same principle is to be found in every age. Faith and obedience God has always exacted; faith in God, and obedience to his commands. In this there has been no change. As God developed his purpose in regard to man’s salvation, more light was given and new duties imposed. Still, faith and obedience were required. No more was demanded of Cain than was exacted of his brother Abel. The same thing was not required, nor to be performed in the same manner, of the Jew in Solomon’s day that was exacted of Adam. As God saw fit, in his infinite wisdom, to give to the children of men additional light regarding his purpose, he imposed additional duties. While each soul must account for the deeds done in the body, the same things will not be required of Achan that will be required of the sons of Eli, nor of either that there will be of the Athenian philosophers who heard Paul’s discourse on Mars Hill. At the great day the books will be opened, and another book, which is the Book of Life, and the judgment will be from these books. As each man’s message has been, so he will be judged. This is simple justice, and God is a God of infinite justice. God is no respecter of persons. You and I, having the same light-having the same gospel-will fare exactly alike. So much will not, however, be exacted of Adam, for he did not have the same message. Now, if all are to be judged by the gospel of Christ as promulgated by the apostles, then there must be a post-mortem preaching of the same, or else there would be a failure of justice. From this I can see no possibility of escape. This pernicious and soul-destroying- doctrine of a message after death finds no warrant nor an intimation thereof in all the Bible, when the same is honestly and fairly interpreted, but finds its basis and its advocacy only in the desires, wishes and inventions of men.
I am impressed with the correctness of this view of the matter after a long and somewhat painful examination of the subject, and from a general view of God’s dealings with his creatures, as the same is spread out before our vision in his revealed will, and from what I conceive to be the best, purest and most certain test of the original that has descended to us. It is in these words: “For to this end, even to the dead ones, was a joyful message delivered, that they might be judged indeed according to men in flesh, but might be living according to God in spirit.” This is the translation of Joseph B. Rotherham from the Greek text of Tregelles. Others, however good and learned, may take another and a different view of this matter, as they have honestly and concienstiously done, and I am not finding any fault with them for so doing. I timidly and modestly suggest that the foregoing position relieves all perplexity and doubt, and dispels the mysticism thrown around the text by the enemies of the cause of Christ.
Commentary on 1Pe 4:1-6 by Burton Coffman
The visible divisions in this chapter are: (1) the security of the faithful in judgment (1Pe 4:1-6); (2) the destruction of Jerusalem prophesied (1Pe 4:7-11); (3) special instructions to the Christians as the approaching terror develops (1Pe 4:12-19).
1Pe 4:1 –Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; (1Pe 4:1)
Christ suffered in the flesh … This merely means “For as Christ died.”
Arm ye yourselves also with the same mind … This is equivalent to Paul’s “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Php 2:5).
He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin … This does not mean that Christ, after suffering, rested from sin; on the other hand, the entire final clause of the verse regards the status of Christians. As Caffin said, “The apostle first spoke of the Master, then turned to the disciple.[1]The thing primarily in view here is exactly the Christian teaching expounded by Paul in Rom 6:1-11; and Barclay said of that passage in this context, “We think that is what Peter is thinking here.”[2] As baptized believers in Christ, Peter’s readers, so soon to undergo persecutions are here admonished to live above sin. “In Christ” they are already dead to sin; they must live above it. As Kelcy said, “Not that the one who has ceased from sin is without sin, but that his life is not a life of sin (1Jn 1:8 1Jn 1:10).[3] The thought of this whole verse is that, just as Christ’s suffering preceded his glorification, so also, for the Christian, his death to sin, and the patient endurance even of physical death itself, if necessary, shall likewise precede a similar glorification for him.[4]
[1] B. C. Caffin, Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22,1Peter (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing House, 1950), p. 170.
[2] William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 247.
[3] Raymond C. Kelcy, The Letters of Peter and Jude (Austin, Texas: R.B. Sweet Company, 1972), p. 82.
1Pe 4:2 –that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
The meaning of these entire first three verses is closely paralleled in thought by Rom 6:1-11. “Peter is saying much the same thing as Paul inRomans 6, but in different language.”[5] “He who has shared Christ’s cross is no longer alive to the pull of sin through the ordinary human desires, but is alive only to the pull of the will of God.”[6] The complete effectiveness of the new status of Christians, however, will always be more or less, depending upon the individual’s own attention and zeal in spiritual matters.
[4] David H. Wheaton, The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1246.
[5] F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), p. 129.
[6] Stephen W. Paine, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 981.
1Pe 4:3 –For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles, and to have walked in lasciviousness, lusts, winebibbings, reveling, carousings, and abominable idolatries:
Like other lists of sins given in the New Testament, this one is by no means exhaustive, Peter having linked together here a number of related sins typical of the whole conduct of the wicked. Here, “violence and lust are classed with drunkenness which fosters them.”[7] Also, the climax of the list is “abominable idolatries,” identifying the scandalous idol temples as the general source and encouragement of Gentile licentiousness. This verse, along with many others, is proof that 1Peter was not addressed to “Jewish Christians.” After the Babylonian captivity, the Jews finally and totally rejected idolatry. “Will of the Gentiles” in this same verse is further indication of the Gentile character of the recipients.
For the time past … This, along with “the rest of your time” in 1Pe 4:2, comprises the whole earthly life of the people Peter was addressing.
The time past may suffice … “Literally, for sufficient is the past. There is an irony in the word similar to that in 1Pe 3:17.”[8]
The primary thought here is that through their own experience those Christians who had forsaken Gentile debaucheries to obey the gospel already knew the frustration and emptiness of such a life. Peter’s words here imply, “Surely you have already had enough of such things.” We found Paul making exactly the same appeal, “What fruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed? for at the end of those things is death” (Rom 6:21).
[7] J. H. A. Hart, Expositor’s Greek Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 71.
[8] A. J. Mason, Ellicott’s Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 424.
1Pe 4:4 –wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
Ye run not with them … Perhaps here is the source of a common expression, running with” this or that social set, or with certain friends or associates.
Excess of riot … The tendency of all riot, lust, violence, etc., is for the indulgence to increase, being multiplied geometrically beyond all consideration or reason. Those who indulge are like an engine with no governor and subject to unlimited acceleration until it is destroyed.
They think it strange … speaking evil of you … No one is any more unpopular at a drinking party than a teetotaler; and the same is true of all abstainers from popular sins.
1Pe 4:5 –who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead.
Bold and uninhibited sinners, arrogantly indulging to excess in every form of wickedness, and speaking evil of those who will not join in their orgies, shall give an account of their deeds. God will judge the living and the dead.
Living and the dead … From the inception of Christianity, this appears to have been somewhat of a stereotyped way of speaking of the final judgment. Peter himself used it at the home of Cornelius (Act 10:42), and it appears in Paul’s charge to Timothy (2Ti 4:1), such early usage of the expression pointing back to Jesus himself as the author of it. It refers to the fact that the final judgment will gather earth’s total population, the dead of all ages, as well as the living generation which shall be upon the earth when the time comes; and they shall all be judged at the same time (Mat 25:31-46). Since most of the New Testament references to this event attribute the judgment to Jesus Christ, it is likely that the mention of “him who is ready” in this verse is to be understood as a reference to Christ.
1Pe 4:6 –For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
To this end … has the effect of “with the final judgment in view.”
Was the gospel preached even to the dead … “The dead” here are exactly the same as the dead in the previous verse, all who had lived on earth and had died previously from the time of Peter’s words, there being, it seems, a particular reference to Christians who had recently died and who were the object of certain anxieties on the part of their Christian relatives. Paul, it will be remembered, addressed the Thessalonians on the same subject. Barnes spoke of this thus:
It was natural in such a connection to speak of those who had died in the faith, and to show for their encouragement that, though they had been put to death, yet they still lived to God.[9]
Significantly, the dead mentioned here “were dead at the time of Peter’s writing, but were not dead when the gospel was preached to them.”[10] Fancy theories built upon ignorance of what this verse says and envisioning all kinds of campaigns to preach the gospel to the hosts of the dead, with the postulation of a glorious second chance for all who were disobedient in life – such notions are not merely preposterous; they are contradictory to many plain teachings of the New Testament.
Judged … according to men … but live according to God … Bruce’s explanation of this is excellent:
Deceased Christians are not deprived of the benefits of the gospel. “According to men” they are judged in the flesh (suffered bodily death); yet “according to God” (from God’s point of view), the spiritual life which they received … endures for ever.[11]
The plain meaning is that the gospel was preached to people when living, who are now dead; just as it would be perfectly correct to say that it was preached to saints in glory, or to souls that are in perdition, meaning that it was preached to them when on earth.[12]
This verse with such a mention of preaching “to the dead” has been grossly misunderstood; but the real motivation for the misunderstanding does not lie in any unusual difficulty in the text itself, but in the desire of people who are enraptured with the thought of a second chance. As Barclay put it, “It gives a breath-taking glimpse of a gospel of a second chance!”[13]
Peter’s thought here is squarely directed against objections which the Christian community encountered from their pagan contemporaries, the thought of the objection being, “You people die just like the rest of us; what then could be the advantage of being a Christian?” Peter’s reply is:
“No,” the apostle said, “Those who have died (the dead) may be judged in the flesh like men, by suffering physical death; but because the gospel was preached to them (while alive, when they responded), they are now living in the spirit like God.”[14]
[9] Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1953), p. 191.
[10] Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 86.
[11] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 129.
[12] Daniel D. Wheedon, Commentary on the New Testament, Vol. V (New York: Hunton and Eaton, 1890), p. 216.
[13] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 249.
[14] David H. Wheaton, op. cit., p. 1245.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The whole force of the argument which the apostle has used in speaking thus of the Christ was to show these saints how through suffering Christ reached a triumph, and to call them to arm themselves with His mind. Let them act by ceasing from sin and all the gratifications of the flesh which had characterized their past.
Injunctions followed the argument. The light of the future is turned on the past, “The end of all things is at hand.” The effect of this certainty is then stated in its personal and relative aspects. The individual is to be of sound mind and sober unto prayer. The ultimate purpose is that God may be glorified in all things.
The apostle’s last words of comfort for those in the midst of testing is that “fiery trial” is not “strange.” The process is watched by God and made a means of grace.
Such results, however, do not follow suffering, which is the consequence of sin. Where persecution is the result of relationship to Christ let there be no shame, but rather rejoicing. Let them accept the name and glorify God in it by fulfilling its true meaning, and manifesting itself in life. Seeing that judgment begins at the house of God, there is no room to doubt the punishment of those who in evil life persecute its members. Remembering that these fires of persecution are watched by God, and never allowed to harm His own, let them commit their souls to Him. Thus the attitude of quiet patience is enjoined on all who suffer for the sake of the Name they bear.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the New Life in Christ
1Pe 4:1-11
The Apostle urges the disciples to make a clean break with sin. As our Lords grave lay between Him and His earlier life, so there should be a clean break between our life as believers and the earth-bound life, which was dominated by lawless passions. Sometimes God employs the acid of persecution or suffering to eat away the bonds that bind us to our past. Let us accept these with a willing mind. The one condition of reigning with the enthroned Christ is to submit to His cross. Of course, we must die to animal instinct, to the blandishments of the world, and to the temptations of the evil one; but it is quite as important to die to our self-life, whether it be clothed in white or black!
We are summoned to a life of prayer. But in order to promote fervency in prayer we must be sober-minded and self-controlled, 1Pe 4:7; loving, 1Pe 4:8; and faithful to our stewardship of all Gods entrusted gifts, 1Pe 4:10. Let us cultivate the invariable habit of looking up from our service, of whatever kind, to claim the ability to do it for the glory of God, 1Pe 4:11.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter Four – The New Life Contrasted With The Old
Conversion to God involves an inward and an outward change. When born again one receives a new nature with new desires and new ambitions. The whole behavior is changed from that of a selfish worldling to a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. The great importance of this is emphasized in the opening verses of this chapter.
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; 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. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess 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: who shall give account to Him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. 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. 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. 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 (1Pe 4:1-11).
With Christ Himself as our example of patience in suffering how can we, who owe all to Him, do otherwise than arm ourselves with the same mind and so endure as beholding Him by faith? Many times God uses suffering to keep us from going into that which would dishonor Him. And when exposed to severe temptation it is as we suffer in the flesh that we are kept from sin. In this we may see the difference between our Lords temptations and those which we have to face. He was tempted in all points like as we, apart from sin. He did not have a sinful nature as we do. He was from His birth the Holy One. He could say, The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in Me. With us it is otherwise. When Satan attacks from without there is an enemy within, sin, the flesh, that responds to his appeal, and it is only as we reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God that we are enabled to mortify the deeds of the body. This means suffering, often of a very severe character. But, we are told, Jesus suffered being tempted (Heb 2:18). So infinitely pure and holy was He that it caused Him intense suffering even to be exposed to Satans solicitations. He overcame by the Word of God, and the devil left Him for a season, to return in the hour of His agony as He was bearing our sins upon the cross.
Let us therefore resist every temptation to gratify the flesh, cost what it may, for it is our new responsibility to live no longer in the flesh according to carnal desires, but in the Spirit to the glory of God. A careful consideration of Galatians, chapter 5, will help to make clear what Peter here presents to us as to our responsibility to refrain from ways that once characterized us. In their unsaved days these whom he addresses wrought the will of the Gentiles when they fellowshipped with the ungodly in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and the abominations connected with idolatry. Although after the flesh, the Jews sought to curry favor with their pagan Gentile neighbors by participation in these evil things, even as Israel of old failed so grievously at Baal-Peor (Num 25:1-3). Since their conversion to God all this was changed. Their former companions could not understand why they so suddenly and completely turned from lives of self-indulgence to what seemed to them great abstemiousness and austerity. They who applauded them before, now spoke evil of them. But they were to live as those who should give account not to men, but to Him who is about to judge the living and the dead when He returns in power. In that day those who despised them for their holy lives would answer to God too. For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. Those who had preceded them in the path of faith were obliged to contend with similar conditions. The good news preached to them who, though now dead, once had to face the ridicule and even persecution of wicked men who had no understanding of spir- itual things, was revealed to them that even while living as men in this scene and judged by their fellows as fools and fanatics, they might actually live unto God in spirit. There is no thought or suggestion here of the gospel being carried to men after death as Romanists, Mormons, and others, would have us believe.
Verse 7 (1Pe 4:7) The Christian is ever to keep the end in view. He is to live not for the passing moment, but as one who knows that the end of all things-that is, all things of this present order, is at hand. It will be ushered in at the Lords return; therefore, the importance of sobriety and watchfulness unto prayer.
Verse 8 (1Pe 4:8) emphasizes that upon which Paul lays so much stress in 1 Corinthians 13, the importance of fervent love among those who are of the pilgrim company. The world hates believers. This is all the more reason why they cling to one another in love, even though they cannot be blind to the faults of others, but love covers the multitude of sins, rather than exposing and holding them up to censure. This does not mean that we should be indifferent to evil. We are taught elsewhere how to deal with and to help those who are overtaken in a fault or who drift into sin. See Gal 6:1; Jam 5:19-20.
It is incumbent on those who love Christ to be gracious to one another, using hospitality ungrudgingly, as verse 9 (1Pe 4:9) tells us.
Verses 10 and 11 (1Pe 4:10-11) have to do with the exercise of spiritual gifts and Christian service generally. Each is responsible to use the gift he has received to minister for the blessing of the rest, as good stewards of the grace of God. A steward is held accountable to fulfil faithfully the trust committed to him by his master.
They who speak, addressing the church when assembled together, are not to give out their own or other mens theories, but are to speak as the oracles of God, declaring only that which He has revealed. Those who minister (or serve) in any capacity are to do it according to the ability God gives, so that in all things He may be glorified through Christ Jesus to whom all praise and dominion eternally belong.
Suffering As A Christian
The name Christian is not found very often in the New Testament, but is the distinctive title of those who belong to Christ. We read of it in Act 11:26 where it was conferred upon the Gentile believers at Antioch by divine authority; for the word called there literally means oracularly called, and therefore it was not the Antiochians alone who bestowed this name upon the believers, but God Himself who so designated them. That it has become their well-known appellation is evident from Act 26:28, where we read that King Agrippa ex- claimed, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian! When Peter wrote this letter some years later he uses it as the commonly recognized name of the pilgrim company, and he tells us that it is praiseworthy to suffer as a Christian.
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 Christs sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other mens matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator (1Pe 4:12-19).
In verse 12 (1Pe 4:12) he writes of the fiery trial which is to try you. Primarily, the reference was to the great suffering that the Jews-whether Christian or not-were about to undergo in connection with the fulfilment of our Lords prophecy concerning Jerusalems destruction, shortly to take place (Luk 21:20-24). But it also has reference to the horrors of the Roman persecutions, which were to continue for two terrible centuries. The words are applicable to every time of trial and persecution.
Verse 13 (1Pe 4:13) Partakers of Christs sufferings. The believer suffers in fellowship with his Lord. Our Lord has told us to expect this (Joh 15:18-21). We cannot be partakers of His atoning sufferings. They stand alone: none but He could endure the penalty for our sins and so make propitiation, in order that we might be forgiven. But we share His sufferings for righteousness sake.
Verse 14 (1Pe 4:14) Reproached for the name of Christ. No one can be true to Christ and loved by the world-system, for everything that Jesus taught condemns the present order and leads ungodly men to hate Him and His people. But he who suffers for Christs sake now is assured of glory hereafter, which will fully answer to the shame now endured. On their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. The reproach of the world should not deter the Christian. He need not expect the approval of those who reject and misunderstand his Saviour. It is his responsibility so to live as to give the lie to the false reports of the ungodly and so to glorify the One whose name they spurn.
Verse 15 (1Pe 4:15) No believer should ever suffer as a busybody in other mens matters. Notice the company in which the busybody is placed. He is linked with murderers, thieves, and evildoers of every description, and that for a very good reason; for the busybody steals mens reputations, seeks to assassinate their good names, and by his calumniations works all manner of evil. The follower of Christ is called upon to be careful never to misbehave so as to deserve the ill-will of the wicked. He is not to be dishonest or corrupt in life, nor to be given to gossipy interference in other peoples affairs. Thus by a holy and righteous life, he will adorn the gospel of Christ (Php 1:27-28).
Verse 16 (1Pe 4:16) If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed. None needs to be ashamed to suffer because of his faithfulness to the hallowed name he bears. The disciples, as we have noticed already, were called Christians first at Antioch (Act 11:26), and this name has clung to them ever since. It signifies their union with Christ, and therefore is a name in which to glory, however the world may despise it! Let us therefore never be ashamed of this name and all that it implies, but be prepared to suffer because of it, knowing that we may thus glorify the God who has drawn us to Himself and saves us through His blessed Son, who bore our sins in His own body on the tree (1Pe 2:24).
Verse 17 (1Pe 4:17) Judgment must begin at the house of God. Our Father-God does not pass over the failures of His people, but disciplines them in order that they may be careful to walk in obedience to His Word. If He is thus particular in chastening His own, how solemn will be the judgment of them that obey not the gospel, but persist to the end in rejecting the Saviour He has provided!
Verse 18 (1Pe 4:18) If the righteous scarcely be saved, that is, if the righteous have to endure chastening at the hand of God and persecution at the hand of the world, what will it mean for unsaved and im- penitent men to answer before the judgment-throne for their persistence in refusing His grace?
Verse 19 (1Pe 4:19) Commit the keeping of their souls in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. However hard the way and however perplexing their experiences, the suffering Christian may look up to God in confidence, knowing he can rely upon the divine love and faithfulness, and assured that all will work out for blessing at last.
Throughout the entire Christian era, which is that of the dispensation of the grace of God (Eph 3:2), believers in Christ are called out from the world and are responsible to live for the glory of Him who has saved them. But though separated from the surrounding evil, they are not to shut themselves up as in a monastery or convent in order to be protected from defilement, but are to go forth as Gods messengers into that very world from which they have been delivered, preaching to all men everywhere the gospel, which is Gods offer of salvation through the finished work of His beloved Son. Whatever suffering or affliction this entails is to be borne cheerfully for His sake, knowing that He will reward abundantly for all endured, when He returns in glory. His Church is to be in the World, but not of it, witnessing rather against its evil, and offering pardon through the cross. Tertullian declared that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. This has been demonstrated over and over again. Persecution can never de- stroy the Church of God. The more it is called to suffer for Christ, the stronger it becomes. It is internal strife and carelessness in life that endangers it. But so virile is the life it possesses that even this has never been permitted to destroy it, for although its outward testimony has at times been ruined by such things, God has always kept alive a witnessing remnant to stand for the truth of His Word.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
1Pe 4:7
Christ’s Absence and Return.
All the practical exhortations of this passage are founded upon the truth that “the end of all things is at hand.” Yet, strange to say, there is hardly any passage of Scripture which has given rise to more frequent cavils than this simple assurance.
I. Some persons are fond of asserting that the Apostles were mistaken in this belief; that when they wrote the end of all things was not at hand. But the answer is, that the Apostles warned the men of their own age, and through them the men of every age, that by remembering the uncertainty of the world’s duration they should assign to temporal things their true value and see that the true safety of a Christian consists in a life of prayer, and love, and active duty.
II. But there are some who object altogether to the hope of heavenly reward as a motive of action. Christ Himself, however, encouraged His disciples by such promises. St. Paul was stirred up by them to ever-increasing diligence and greater eagerness in pressing towards the mark. If we are not to lower our conception of goodness by practising it for the sake of future happiness, neither are we required to
“Wind ourselves too high
For sinful man beneath the sky,”
and to exclude from the heart every feeling except a cold and naked sense of duty.
G. E. L. Cotton, Expository Sermons on the Epistles, vol. ii., p. 40.
References: 1Pe 4:7.-W. W. How, Church of England Pulpit, vol. x., p. 517; H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Life of Duty, vol. i., p. 260.
1Pe 4:8
It is quite evident that the sins spoken of here are not our own sins, but the sins of other persons, and that the intention is to say that as hatred brings causes of quarrel to the surface, so love puts the faults of other people down out of sight.
I. Love shall cover multitudes of sins-from. God and from man. Love by silence and by veiling hides from man, and by prayer and by converting hides from God. And yet, in all ages of the Church, men have built from my text the fallacy that a man’s charities are, in some way, a set-off against his sins. Love covers sins. Love learnt her office where she learnt everything: upon the bosom of Jesus Christ. It is a good and pleasant exercise to substitute for the word “charity,” wherever you find it in the Bible, the word “Christ.” And see how accurately and how exquisitely true the sentence runs respecting all that charity is and charity does when charity is Christ. And this is Christ’s blessed work: He covers the multitude of sins.
II. Your mission as a Christian is to be a coverer of sins. If you know of anything to any one’s detriment, hold it as a sacred deposit, to be used religiously. Never think that you can make yourself great by making another less. Let it be your characteristic, the point by which you are known in society, that, like your Master, you always cover everybody’s sins. It will be true religion.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 1865.
References: 1Pe 4:8.-G. Dawson, The Authentic Gospel, p. 86; J. Keble, Sermons from Ascension to Trinity, p. 93; F. VV. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 353; E. H. Plumptre, Ibid., vol. xix., p. 392. 1Pe 4:9, 1Pe 4:10.-H. D. B. Rawnsley, Ibid., vol. xxxii., p. 93.
1Pe 4:10
Combination.
I. Religion is, in one sense, a hidden thing-“a life hid with Christ in God.” Acts rather than words are the invigorating exponents of emotion. And doubtless it is the consciousness of this law of our being which in great measure accounts for that delicate reserve which makes it repugnant to all minds of the finest temper to speak much of their religious experiences. In secrecy lies the secret of their strength. And further there is another motive, and that, too, a noble one, which makes many Christians, especially among the young, chary of giving utterance to their religious convictions. They distrust their genuineness, or at least their abiding power. To many it seems much more easy to obey Christ’s teaching when He warns them against ostentatious and therefore hypocritical devotion, than when He utters the no less needful exhortation, “Let your light so shine before men,” etc.
II. And yet this last exhortation must not be forgotten, or received only with a lukewarm willingness to obey it. “As every man hath received the gift.” What gift? The gifts of the Holy Spirit are infinitely various, but the greatest of all is the gift of Himself, the gift of loving God, of caring for the things of heaven, of having even a definite desire to be on the side of Christ, and not on that of His enemies. This is indeed a gift, and, like all gifts of God, it brings with it a responsibility. It is something which demands not only to be appropriated, but also to be traded with and devoted to the relief of others. If any one has, through God’s grace, been brought to hate sin and to see its ruinous, soul-destroying character; let him not shut up this holy conviction in his own heart, but let him be glad to find opportunities for imparting it to others. By so doing, he will greatly confirm his own sense of its importance, and he will have done much to confirm the faith and courage of his brethren. For there is no cordial so cheering to the Christian soldier as the discovery that he is not alone, but that, while he has been striving to serve his Master in secret, others also, unknown to him, have been engaged in the same struggle.
H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, 2nd series, p. 46.
Christian Stewardship.
In the kingdom of grace, as in the kingdom of nature, God turns everything to account. He gave it a beginning by His own direct and almighty power; and He could just as easily, by the same power, carry it on to its final completion. But this is not His manner of doing. He expects it, by virtue of that principle of life which He has communicated to it, to carry itself on now, not independently of Him, but in reliance upon Him and receiving from Him, just as nature is dependent on Him for the continuance of its vital and vitalising force. But still, in so far as instrumentality is concerned, the work is its own, not His. God did not give us the faculty for nothing. He gave it for use; He gave it that it might come out in its appropriate life, thereby always becoming more faculty, while it continues to yield more fruit.
I. Look at the nature of the thing spoken of: ministry; service. We are apt to look upon service as a menial thing. That may be our idea, but there is nothing more glorified in the Bible. Service, mutual helpfulness growing out of mutual dependence, is the law of the universe. So it is in grace. The spiritual sphere knows no other law. It is held together by it. Let us set this down as an unquestionable fact. Service is the law of our life, by which we rise out of sense to spirit; we touch angels; we perpetuate Christ; we repeat His example and keep His memory fresh in the world.
II. Observe the range of the duty. It is universal. “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same.” This makes the matter very simple. It puts an end to all casuistry and all excuses. And, indeed, it could not be other than universal, since it is the law of rational life. It is not merely the law of spiritually renewed life. It is the recognised law in that case. But whether recognised or not, it is still the law. It holds angels-“Are they not all ministering spirits?”-and they honour the law; but it equally holds men and devils who break the law.
III. The rule of duty: “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same.” It is idle to say you can do nothing, for if you are a Christian, you have received something. This rule applies to the form and to the measure of the gift, both to its kind and to its degree.
IV. Look, lastly, at what comes out of all this-this picture, if I may so say, of the family of Christ. (1) There is universal responsibility. It takes in all. The great is not above it, and the weakest is not beneath it. (2) There is universal utility. Every one is employed, young and old, rich and poor. Every one is a minister according to his gift. (3) A totality of progress. This diversity of gifts secures that every part of the work shall be done; for it is just love in its innumerable forms addressing itself to the world’s innumerable needs.
A. L. Simpson, Sermons, p. 16.
1Pe 4:10
The Christian Stewardship.
I. The manifold grace of God-the term is a remarkable one; it is that word by which the Greeks expressed infinite variety of hue or of design, the shiftings and glistenings of richly mingled colours or the dappled patterns of skilful embroidery. And by it a lesson is conveyed to us of no inconsiderable importance. We have not, I think, been good stewards of this manifold grace. We have been ever apt to look on the grace of God in one or at most in some few of its aspects only. We have forgotten its manifoldness, its many-shifting hues, its exquisite and inexhaustible richness of tint and pattern. In other words, we have assumed for the Gospel of Christ too exclusively theological a character. This has been the fault of the Church for ages. By setting forth the Gospel in its manifold points of human interest, we might have had much more hold on men’s hearts, and brought in a richer harvest of souls to Christ.
II. Every one of us is more or less put in trust with this manifold grace, in one or other of its departments. And when we review the wonderful process of love by which it has been won for us, is it not a very solemn question for us all, for every one in his own case, “Am I a good steward of this manifold grace?” (1) Wealth is a stewardship. As a man’s worldly means increase, so his charities ought to increase. (2) Talent is a stewardship. (3) Influence is a stewardship. If we use our stewardships as our own, His property committed to us as if it were not His, we cannot walk in the track of His gracious purposes, nor at last enter into His joy.
H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. v., p. 15.
References: 1Pe 4:10.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 60; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 287; J. Edmunds, Sixty Sermons, p. 228.
1Pe 4:11
God’s Scholars.
Consider:-
I. Our labours of the understanding. May I say, “If any man read, let him read as if his book were God’s work,” or as if he were God’s scholar? We cannot make a Christian use of other books, if the book of God Himself be not familiar to us. Nor, again, can we possibly turn common things into our spiritual food. We shall not easily be led to think of the highest things by the study of books on worldly matters, if even, when the occasion directly calls for it, our thoughts are still slow to travel heavenward. And therefore, if we would learn to read everything as God’s scholars, we must at least read the Bible as such, I mean with a sincere desire to practise it.
II. Our labours of charity, or our acts of kindness to our neighbours. “If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth.” If we give but a cup of cold water to one of the humblest of our brethren, let it be done for Christ’s sake. Perhaps the need of our remembering this is greater than we are apt to imagine. There is something so delightful in kindness, so natural in the wish to please and to relieve, so exceedingly sweet in the consciousness of having done good to others and in receiving the return of others’ grateful love, that I am afraid our charity is very often unsanctified. There is no real goodness, there is even no safety from condemnation, unless we glorify God through Jesus Christ. All our thoughts and all our actions are unworthy of God’s acceptance; they can be accepted by Him only in His beloved Son, He in our place and we in His, that as He took upon Him the infirmities of our nature, we might be clothed with the perfections of His; and as He died because we were sinners, so we might be loved and receive eternal life because He is righteous.
T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. ii., p. 193.
Reference: 1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 4:13.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi., p. 291.
1Pe 4:13
Consider:-
I. What Christ could not, as a perfectly pure and holy Being, have suffered for sins. (1) One element of suffering for sin, and that a most bitter one, of which Christ could have no direct experience, is conscious guilt. Wide as is the range of its sympathies with the sinful, there is a line beyond which a nature which is itself sinless can never pass. Into that dismal region overshadowed by the gloom of guilt, and where rage the furies of an avenging conscience, He who “was in all points tempted” like as we are, yet without sin, could never follow us. (2) Another element of suffering for sin of which a perfectly holy nature could have no experience is a personal sense of Divine wrath. Betwixt the experience of a guilty soul writhing under the frown of God and His there is an impassable gulf. (3) Nor, finally, though Christ tasted death for every man, could He ever experience personally that which constitutes to the sinner the very bitterness of death: the fear of what comes after death.
II. What kind of suffering for sin may be conceived of as noble and worthy, and so not impossible to a pure and holy nature. I notice (1) that which a pure and holy nature must feel from the mere contiguity of evil; (2) the reflected or borrowed shame and pain which noble natures feel for the sins of those with whom they are closely connected. (3) Christ suffered for sin, not only as bearing relatively its guilt, but also as its Victim.
J. Caird, Sermons, p. 167.
Reference: 1Pe 4:13.-W. Boyd-Carpenter, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 97.
1Pe 4:14
The Ennobling Power of the Gospel.
I. Externally these kings and priests, these bearers on their heads of the Spirit of glory and of God, are invested with no dignities. Strangers and scattered, pained by ever-varying temptations, many of them slaves in the households of the heathen, all liable to be reproached for the name of Christ-such was their actual condition of humiliation and obligation; such, for many of them, was their actual present poverty and meanness of estate. They had been transformed, transfigured. From beings merely of the world around them, from the huge commonalty of character and condition, certainly from no assemblage of genius and culture, they had been refined into the family likeness of the children of God, by faith in Jesus. They had that upon them which, as we well know, made them an awful yet blessed power on the earth: the Spirit of glory and of God.
II. It was the nature of the message of Jesus to give to these peasants and slaves of Asia Minor the title, the aspirations, the courage, the wisdom, of citizens and heirs of heaven. It emancipated them into a Divine freedom. It raised them to a supernatural nobility. It taught them such things as facts about the soul and its future, about eternity, about God, as made them feel a totally new wonder and significance in themselves, their duty and their destiny; and so it led them to act, to live and die, with a purpose and in a manner that answered in some measure to that deep significance. Nothing but the Scripture revelation of redemption in Jesus Christ, with eternal glory, has proved itself to be the bearer of all the fruits of the Spirit. Other things can produce strength without meekness, kindness without holiness, aspirations without repentance, refinement without love. The Gospel is formed to produce them all, as the direct result from its simplest elements, and this not only because it is the message from the throne, but because, being such, it remembers, and provides for, and addresses the whole of man: his misery and his greatness; his greatness and his misery.
H. C. G. Moule, Christ is All, p. 191.
References: 1Pe 4:17.-J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvi., p. 84. 1Pe 4:18.-J. Natt, Posthumous Sermons, p. 229; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 85.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
sin
Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Christ: 1Pe 3:18
arm: Rom 13:12-14, Phi 2:5, Heb 12:3
for: Rom 6:2, Rom 6:7, Rom 6:11, Gal 2:20, Gal 5:24, Col 3:3-5
ceased: Isa 1:16, Eze 16:41, Heb 4:10
Reciprocal: Lev 7:5 – General Deu 27:10 – General Psa 85:13 – shall set Isa 11:5 – righteousness Isa 32:16 – General Isa 50:7 – I set Mat 5:29 – pluck Mat 16:24 – and take Mar 3:3 – he saith Mar 8:33 – savourest Mar 8:34 – take Luk 6:8 – Rise Luk 9:51 – he stedfastly Luk 19:28 – he went Luk 22:36 – But Joh 10:4 – he goeth Joh 13:14 – ye also Joh 18:4 – Whom Rom 6:4 – even Rom 8:3 – condemned 2Co 10:3 – walk Gal 2:19 – that Gal 5:16 – and Eph 2:16 – having Phi 3:10 – and the power Col 2:12 – wherein Col 2:20 – if 2Th 1:7 – who 2Th 3:5 – the patient waiting for Christ Tit 3:3 – we 1Pe 2:21 – because 1Pe 2:24 – being 1Pe 4:6 – that they 1Pe 5:5 – all 1Jo 2:1 – that 1Jo 2:8 – which 1Jo 4:17 – as
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THOSE OF YOU who have carefully followed our Scripture Portion thus far, have possibly noticed that the thought of suffering, both for Christ Himself and for His followers, has been very prominent from 1Pe 2:11, where we started the practical and hortatory part of the epistle.
That suffering must be expected by the Christian is very clear. His life is to be one of well doing, but he may suffer for doing well (1Pe 2:20). It is to be a life of righteousness, but he may suffer for righteousness sake (1Pe 3:14). The first verse of chapter 4 reverts to this matter, and instructs us that we are to be armed for the conflict with the mind to suffer. It was the mind that animated Christ. He suffered for us in the flesh, and that even unto death (1Pe 3:18). There is, of course, a difference. He suffered for us in atonement, and this we can never do. He suffered being tempted (Heb 2:18), because being perfectly holy, the very thought of sin was abhorrent to Him. We suffer in refusing temptation and in ceasing from sin, because, alas! sin is alluring to the flesh within us. If we gratify the flesh we do not suffer, but we sin. If we refuse temptation and have done with sin, the flesh suffers instead of being gratified. But it is just that suffering that is incumbent upon us.
In our unconverted days we lived in the gratification of our natural desires without any reference to the will of God. Now we are on exactly opposite lines, as verse 1Pe 4:2 indicates. We do well to remember that God divides up our lives into two parts; the time past of our life, and the rest of our time in the flesh, the hour of conversion marking the boundary between them. In the earlier part we wrought the will of the nations who never were put under the law of God. Now we are to carry out the will of God, which has been made known to us not merely in the law but in Christ.
By the very fact however that we do not act as the world does we are open to the worlds dislike and criticism. There are always many to be found who think and speak evil of what they cannot understand. This need not disturb the believer for there is One who is ready to judge the living and the dead and the accusers will stand before Him.
Now the ground of all judgment will be the testimony as regards God and His truth which may have been rendered to those who are subject to judgment; in other words, the responsibility of each will be measured by the divine testimony they have heard. The gospel of verse 1Pe 4:6 is not the Christian gospel in particular. It is just glad tidings such as has at different times been preached to people of bygone ages, now dead. In particular it refers to the glad tidings of salvation by the ark through the flood, for the dead refers to the same people as the Apostle had alluded to in 1Pe 3:19-20. All through the bygone ages there was also glad tidings of a coming Deliverer and always then, as now, the glad tidings separates those who hear it into two classes; those who refuse or neglect it and have to stand their judgment as men in the flesh, and those who receive it and consequently live in the spirit as regards God. Those who thus pass from death to life by the hearing of Christs word of glad tidings do not come into judgment, as another Scripture assures us.
Now we Christians have to remember that we have come to the end of all things. Obviously Peter did not mean that when he wrote-somewhere about A.D. 60,-the end of this dispensation was reached, but rather that the end dispensation was reached, that it is the last time. The judge is quite ready as verse 1Pe 4:5 has told us. He stands before the door (Jam 5:9), ready to enter the court and take His seat so that the judgment may begin. All things then were quite ready for judgment at the very start of this epoch in which we are living, and it is only the longsuffering of God which holds the judgment back as Peters second epistle tells us. How sober and watchful unto prayer should we therefore be.
More than this, we should be marked by fervent love amongst ourselves, and the utilization of every gift and ability to the glory of God, from whom all such things proceed. The world is a cold and critical place, the Christian circle should be a place of warm love. When love amongst Christians exists in fervour it expresses itself passively in covering a multitude of sins and actively in giving and hospitality. There are alas many sins even with true believers. The antagonistic world delights to advertize the sins of believers, proclaiming them upon the housetops. Love in the Christian circle feels them as though they were its own and covers them. When a Christian busies himself in advertizing the sins of some other Christian, he thereby advertizes his own carnal condition. Many of us would be rather careful not to advertize the sin of some other believer who happens to meet with us in our public gatherings. Are we as careful in regard to believers who do not meet with us?
Whatever we may have received from God we are to hold it in trust for the benefit of all saints. The grace of God is very manifold and various. This one may speak, that one may serve. He who speaks is to speak as Gods mouthpiece. He who serves as in strength that God supplies; and thus those who benefit by the speaking or serving will trace all up to God and glorify Him and not the one who happens to be the vessel or channel of supply. Speaking as the oracles of God does not mean, according to the Word of God, though of course we always should so speak. It means, speaking as a mouthpiece of His word. If a speaker comes to us telling us what he thinks, what are his impressions and conceptions, we end by thinking him a very wonderful man, and doing him homage as a kind of spiritual hero! If he, on the other hand, just gives us what really is the word of God, we are subdued and we glorify God instead of glorifying him.
If fervent love prevails we shall not only give one another our due but give God His due also. Things will be right within the Christian circle even if the world without is very antagonistic.
In verse 1Pe 4:12 the Apostle returns to the matter of suffering for the Christian, and he speaks of it with increased plainness and with prophetic foresight. There lay before these early Christians a fiery trial, it was indeed already upon them. It very soon became as we know literally a trial by fire. They were not to account it some strange thing. We are taught by this remark that suffering from the world is the normal thing for the Christian. We may hardly realize this, living, as we do, in a land of christianized culture and toleration. We may easily come to regard a life of ease and pleasantry in the world as the normal thing for us and persecution as a very abnormal thing. Then should persecution come upon us we would feel aggrieved and scandalized.
It is this wrong view of things and the softness which shrinks from hardness (2Ti 2:3) which largely accounts for the great weakness of today. Only a small minority of Christians are prepared to stand up for anything, or stand out against anything in the world. A weak spirit of compliance and compromise is in the air. Suffering is avoided but power and joy are lost.
How does Peter present this matter of suffering? In verse 1Pe 4:13 he holds out to us the honour of partaking in Christs sufferings-i.e., we enter into sufferings that have the same character as those which He endured as the great witness to God in a rebellious world. This is, according to his account a matter of rejoicing,-and here he only preaches what he himself practised as recorded in Act 5:41. We are to rejoice now, while the suffering proceeds, and thus shall we be manifestly conquerors in the presence of our foes. The day of Christs glory hastens on however and then we shall be glad with exceeding joy. We shall rejoice with exultation, the suffering being over and the day of reward having arrived. Christs supreme sufferings are to be crowned with His supreme glory. It will be our honour and joy to share in both. Which shall we see to be the greater honour in that day? Let us call shame on our faint and cowardly hearts!
But we shall get not only persecution in the world, but reproach, and often this is the harder to bear. Well, supposing reproach rolls in upon us, are we to be specially commiserated? Not at all. We are declared to be happy or blessed if the reproach be for the name, or in the name of Christ; which means that the world sees in us His representatives. The Lord Jesus was once in this world as the Great Representative of Jehovah, and He consequently had to say The reproaches of them that reproached Thee are fallen upon Me (Psa 69:9). That was assuredly no disgrace to Him, and to be reproached in the name of Christ is an honour to us. Men may blaspheme Him and reproach us, but we glorify Him and the Spirit who indwells us rests upon us as the Spirit of glory and of God. Many a Christian who has been through reproach of this sort looks back afterwards to the occasion as a time of the greatest spiritual exaltation and blessing.
We are to be most careful not to suffer for evil doing of any sort but only as Christians. Then we have no need to be ashamed for we can glorify God on this behalf, or in this name. Here we have the Spirit of God accepting and sanctioning the name Christian as applied to believers. It was first used as a descriptive nickname at Antioch (Act 11:26). It had come into general use later (See, Act 26:28) and now is formally accepted by the Spirit of God. We may accept it therefore, and as Christians we glorify God even as Christ Himself did.
One further thought as to suffering is expressed by the Apostle in verse 17. Though it comes upon Christians from the world it is overruled of God to serve the ends of His government-the government of which he had spoken to us in 1Pe 3:1-22. Now Gods governmental dealings especially apply to His own. He is of course the Judge of all, and beneath His judgment all will ultimately come. But He keeps specially short accounts with those acknowledged as in relationship with Him, those who are of His household. When failure supervenes and sin invades the holy precincts of His house He begins to make the weight of His judgment felt in the way of His governmental dealings.
That this is Gods way was manifest in Old Testament times. Read Eze 8:1-18; Eze 9:1-11 and see. Judgment was to be set in Jerusalem and the instruction was Begin at My sanctuary. So it had begun to be in the church of God. These early Christians had to accept these fires of persecution as permitted by God for the purifying of His house. We all know there is nothing like persecution for weeding the false out of the midst of the true.
But if judgment thus starts at Gods house, if God does not spare these, what about those that are not in relationship with Him at all? What shall their end be? If the righteous is saved with difficulty where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? These are tremendous questions which only admit of answers of most terrible import.
The righteous may come through with difficulty, as many an Old Testament Scripture illustrates, but he IS SAVED, nevertheless. He may have even to suffer to the extreme point of death according to Gods will, as verse 1Pe 4:19 indicates. If so he has but to go on doing well and thus commit his soul into the hands of God as unto a faithful Creator. We know God not merely as Creator but as Saviour and Father. Still we do not lose the benefit of knowing Him as Creator, and as faithful to His own handiwork.
How happy for us to know God in all these varied ways.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
1Pe 4:1. Forasmuch then refers back to chapter 3:18 which mentions the suffering and death of Christ in the flesh which He underwent for our sins. Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. Prepare yourselves for the trials that will come upon you for being faithful disciples of Him, by a mind that expects such experiences. He that hath suffered . . . ceased from sin. Christ suffered in the flesh in order to make atonement for sin. The true disciple who wishes to profit from the example of Christ, will cease his life of sin even though he must suffer persecution for it.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Pe 4:1. Christ then having suffered as regards the flesh. The words for us, which the A. V. inserts, have the support of some good authorities. They are wanting, however, in the oldest of all our manuscripts as well as in some important Versions, and are rightly omitted by the R. V. and the best critics. The suffered is a general expression here, covering His death as well as what He endured previous to that. That His death is in view appears from the definition of the suffered by the being put to death in 1Pe 3:18. What Peter says here, too, is not exactly in the flesh, but as to the flesh or fleshly-wise. The term used is precisely the same as in 1Pe 3:18. It is introduced twice in this verse, perhaps with this touch of comfort in it, that, as in Christs case, so in the case of Christians, it is only the perishable side of being that suffering can hurt. The then does not indicate a return from a digression. It carries out to further issues a fact which has formed the ruling idea in all that has been advanced since 1Pe 3:7.
do ye also arm yourselves. A strong appeal to do on their side what Christ did on His. The course which they have to run is one of conflict. They must have an equipment for their warfare, if they are to wage it worthily, and the armour or equipment which will make them ready is that with which their Captain Himself faced his curriculum of suffering. The idea of a spiritual armour, which appears repeatedly in the Pauline Epistles (Rom 13:12; 2Co 6:7; Eph 6:10-17; 1Th 5:8), and meets us also in the Old Testament (e.g. Isa 59:17), is taken up this once and in briefest possible form in Peters writings. The verb arm yourselves occurs nowhere again in the New Testament, although it is common enough in Classical Greek, both in the literal sense and in the figurative.
with the same mind, because he who has suffered as regards the flesh, has ceased from sin. Although the several parts of this sentence seem intelligible enough, the exact sense of the whole, specially in view of what is immediately connected with it in the next verses, is extremely difficult to determine. Some excellent exegetes have felt a haze overhanging it, which has tempted them to doubt its genuineness. The problem, however, is not to be disposed of in that fashion. The only uncertainties of reading are theseAre we to read in the flesh, or have we here exactly the same phrase as before, viz. as regards the flesh? And are we to read from sin, as in the A. V. and the text of the R. V., or, as in the margin of the R. V., unto sins? In both cases the balance of evidence seems on the side of the latter supposition. The first question is as to the sense of the word which is rendered mind here. It occurs only once again in the New Testament, and there in the plural, viz. Heb 4:12, where it is translated intents in the A. V. and R. V. Its best understood meaning (according to some, indeed, its only meaning) is thought, consideration, conception. If this is adhered to, the idea which results may be variously construed. Some take it to be = arm yourselves with the same thought, that is to say, with the thought of having to suffer according to the flesh as Christ suffered, and do so because he who has so suffered has ceased from sin (so Huther, etc.). Others (including Calvin, the Genevan, Wiesinger, Mason, etc.) understand the latter words to express the contents of the thought, and put it either in the general form = arm yourselves with the same thought, namely, the thought that he who has suffered according to the flesh has ceased from sin; or in the more definite form = arm yourselves with the same thought, or conception, of what suffering is, which Christ Himself had when He suffered, namely, that he who has so suffered has ceased from sin. But this disturbs the connection with the opening clause, which speaks not of what Christ or others thought about suffering, but simply of the fact that He suffered. In some of its forms, too, this rendering deals with the very definite phrase the same thought, as if it were this thought, or this very thought. The noun in question, however, has another meaning, namely, disposition, intention, or purpose. This is a rare use. But it seems capable of being made out as an occasional occurrence, both in the Classics (e.g. Xen. Anab. iii. 1, 13; Plato, Legg. 769 E; Eurip. Hel. 1026, etc.) and in the Septuagint (Pro 3:21; Pro 5:2). Here it gives the clear and congruous idea, that in their conflict Christians were to arm themselves with the same purpose with which their Lord Himself endured suffering. What that purpose in His case was, appears from the previous section. It was to do good to wrong-doers, by bringing them to God.
because he who has suffered according to the flesh has ceased from sin. This is added to establish and enforce the counsel. But how it does that is greatly disputed. Some suppose Christ Himself to be the subject of the sentence, and take it to mean that by suffering in the flesh He put an end to sin itself, and brought in an everlasting righteousness; or that He thus made an end of sin-offering. But this introduces dogmatic ideas, which the context does not suggest; while violence is also done to some of the terms. Others suppose it means that Christ, having once suffered, is now done with sin, and is fortified against its assaults. The expression, however, seems to be a general one, stating a principle which is not to be limited to the single case of Christ Others give the suffered an ethical sense, or a metaphorical, supposing that it refers either to the crucifying of the old man (Calvin, etc.), or to the ideal dying of the believer with Christ in baptism (Schott, etc.). But this is inconsistent with the sense of the same term suffered in the first clause. Some of the best interpreters retain the reading of the Received Text (which admits of being rendered either has ceased from sin, or has been made to cease from sin), and hold that this must be taken in the active sense of a ceasing from sinning. So some construe it as = he who suffers on account of his opposition to sin, has broken with sin and shows that its power over him is gone (Weiss). And others, in various ways, understand it to refer to the influence of suffering in subduing sinful inclination and ripening moral character. Even this, however, appears to come short of the almost axiomatic force of the sentence. For it is by no means a general truth that suffering effects cessation from sin. The difficulty will be lightened, however, if we adopt the other reading, unto sins. This gives us a phrase, is done with sins, or has been brought to an end as regards sins, which may fairly express the cessation of a certain relation to sin, and present a parallel to the Pauline formula, he that is dead is freed from sin (Rom 6:7). We have then a general proposition, which holds good of both the subjects referred to in the verse, Christ and the Christian, each according to his peculiar relation to sin. And, taking the suffered to cover here, as in 1Pe 3:18, the article of death itself, we make the import of the whole thisChrist suffered and died, with the purpose of doing good; confront your sufferings with the same purpose; let them not provoke you to evildoing, but pledge you to well-doing; be confirmed in this by the consideration that he who has once suffered unto death according to the flesh, is done with sin; Christ thus terminated His relation to sin; and those who suffer and die with Him should recognise their old relation to sin at an end, themselves done with sin.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
These words may be considered, 1. As an inference drawn from what the apostle had asserted in the foregoing chapter, namely, That Christ Jesus suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust; 1Pe 3:18.
Now, says the apostle, forasmuch as Christ has thus suffered for us, first as our surety and representative, in a way of satisfaction;
secondly, as our pattern and example, in order to our imitation: let us arm ourselves with the same mind and resolution, to be conformed to him in his death, dying to sin as he died for sin: for he that hath crucified the flesh, and mortified his corrupt nature, in imitation of Christ’s suffering in our flesh and nature, that man hath ceased from sin, that is, from living unto sin, or serving sin any longer, but spends the remainder of his life wholly according to God’s will, not according to his own or other’s lustful desires and inclinations.
2. These words may be considered as an argument to excite Christians to eschew evil and do good, which he had pressed upon them in the former chapter, from the example of Christ.
And the force of the argument lies thus: “All Christians should be armed with the same mind and resolution against sin, and for holiness, that Christ was. But Christ having suffered in the flesh for sin, and ceased from sin, lived in the Spirit unto God: therefore all Christians should wholly endeavour all they can to cease from sin, and live no more to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Preparing to Suffer The resurrected Christ has now returned to heaven ( Act 1:9 ), where he is seated at God’s right hand. Such a seat symbolizes the honor and power that is now his ( Psa 110:1 ; Rom 8:34 ; Heb 1:3 ; Heb 12:2 ). Having assured his readers that Christ suffered for them ( 1Pe 3:18 ), Peter urges them to prepare for troubles ahead. His words bring forth the image of a soldier getting his weapon, when he tells them to arm themselves with Christ’s attitude toward suffering. The one who suffers persecution for Christianity has given up the life of sin. Thus, sin no longer lures him through lusts that appeal to sinful men. Instead, he is drawn by the will of God to live the right life. A Christian’s time for living in sin is past ( 1Pe 3:22 ; 1Pe 4:1-2 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
1Pe 4:1-2. Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered Even the ignominious and painful death of the cross, with all those previous and concomitant evils, which rendered his death peculiarly bitter; for us And that from a pure and disinterested principle of love; arm yourselves likewise with the same mind With a resolution such as animated him to suffer all the evils to which you may be exposed in the body; and particularly to suffer death, if called by God to do so for your religion. For this will be armour of proof against all your enemies. For he that hath In conformity to our Lord Jesus; suffered in the flesh Or, who hath so suffered as to be thereby made inwardly and truly conformable to Christ in his sufferings, hath, of course, ceased from sin From knowingly committing it. He hath been made to rest, says Macknight, from temptation to sin, consequently from sin itself. For if a man hath overcome the fear of torture and death, no weaker temptation will prevail with him to make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. That he no longer should live in the flesh Even in his mortal body; to the lusts The desires, of men Either his own or those of others; should no longer be governed by those irregular and inordinate affections which rule in unregenerate men; but to the will of God In a holy conformity and obedience to the divine precepts, how contrary soever they may be to his carnal and sensual inclinations, or apparently to his worldly interests.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1 Peter Chapter 4
From the beginning of this chapter to the end of verse, the apostle continues to speak of the general principles of Gods government, exhorting, the Christian to act on the principles of Christ Him elf, which would cause him to avoid the walk condemned by that government, while waiting for the judgment of the world by the Christ whom he served. Christ glorified, as we saw at the close of the previous chapter, was ready to judge; and they who were exasperated against the Christians, and who were led by their own passions, without caring for the coming judgment, would have to give account to that Judge whom they refused to own as Saviour.
Here, it will be observed, it is suffering for righteousness sake (1Pe 2:19; 1Pe 3:17) in connection with the government and judgment of God. The principle was this: they accepted, they followed the Saviour whom the world and the nation rejected; they walked in His holy footsteps in righteousness, as pilgrims and strangers, abandoning the corruption that reigned in the world. Walking in peace and following after good, they avoided to a certain extent the attacks of others; and the eyes of Him, who watches from on high over all things, rested upon the righteous. Nevertheless, in the relations of ordinary life (chap. 2:18), and in their intercourse with men, they might have to suffer, and to bear flagrant injustice. Now the time of Gods judgment was not yet come. Christ was in heaven; He had been rejected on the earth, and the Christians part was to follow Him. The time of the manifestation of the government of God would be at the judgment which Christ should execute. Meanwhile His walk on earth had furnished the pattern of that which the God of judgment approved. (1Pe 2:21-23, 1Pe 4:1 and following verses.)
They were to do good, to suffer for it, and to be patient. This is well-pleasing to God; this is what Christ did. It was better that they should suffer for doing well, if God saw fit, than for doing ill. Christ (1 Peter2:24) had borne our sins, had suffered for our sins, the Just for the unjust, in order that we, being dead to sins, should live for righteousness, and in order to bring us unto God Himself. Christ is now on high; He is ready to judge. When the judgment shall come, the principles of Gods government will be manifested and shall prevail.
The beginning of chapter 4 requires some rather more detailed remarks. The death of Christ is there applied to practical death unto sins; a state presented in contrast with the life of the Gentiles.
Christ on the cross (the apostle alludes to verse 18 of the preceding chapter (1Pe 3:18)) suffered in the flesh for us. He died in fact as regards His human life. We must arm ourselves with the same mind, and allow of no activity of life or passions according to the will of the old man, but suffer as to the flesh, never yielding to its will. Sin is the action in us of the will of the flesh, the will of the man as alive in this world. When this will acts, the principle of sin is there; for we ought to obey. The will of God ought to be the spring of our moral life; and so much the more, because now that we have the knowledge of good and evil-now that the will of the flesh, unsubject to God, is in us, we must either take the will of God as our only motive, or act according to the will of the flesh, for the latter is always present in us.
Christ came to obey, He chose to die, to suffer all things rather than not obey. He thus died to sin, which never for a moment found an entrance into His heart. With Him, tempted to the uttermost, death was preferred rather than disobedience, even when death had the character of wrath against sin and judgment. Bitter as the cup was, He drank it rather than not fulfill to the uttermost His Fathers will, and glorify Him. Tried to the uttermost and perfect in it, the temptation which ever assailed Him from without and sought entrance (for He had none within) was always kept outside; was never entered into, nor found a movement of His will towards it; drew out obedience, or the perfection of the divine thoughts in man; and by dying, by suffering in the flesh, He had done with it all, done with sin for ever, and entered for ever into rest, after having been tried to the uttermost, and tempted to all things similarly to us[6] as regards the trial of faith, the conflict of the spiritual life.
Now it is the same thing with respect to ourselves in daily life. If I suffer in the flesh, the will of the flesh is assuredly not in action; and the flesh, in that I suffer, is practically dead-I have nothing more to do with sins. [7] We then are freed from it, have done with it, and are at rest. If we are content to suffer, the will does not act; sin is not there, as to fact; for to suffer is not will, it is grace acting in accordance with the image and the mind of Christ in the new man; and we are freed from the action of the old man. It does not act; we rest from it; we have done with it, no longer to live, for the remainder of our life here below in the flesh, according to the lusts of man, but according to the will of God, which the new man follows.
It is enough to have spent the past time of our lives in doing the will of the Gentiles (he still speaks to Christians of the circumcision), and in committing the excesses to which they addicted themselves, while they wondered at Christians for refusing to do the same; speaking evil of them for this reason. But they would have to give account to Him, who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
The Jews were accustomed to the judgment of the living, for they were the centre of Gods government on the earth. The judgment of the dead, with which we are more familiar, had not been definitely revealed to them. They were liable nevertheless to this judgment; for it was with this object that the promises of God were presented to them while living, in order that they might either live according to God in the spirit, or be judged as men responsible for what they had done in the flesh. For the one or other of these results would be produced in every one who heard the promises. Thus, in regard to the Jews, the judgment of the dead would take place in connection with the promises that had been set before them. For this testimony from God placed all who heard it under responsibility, so that they would be judged as men who had to give account to God of their conduct in the flesh, unless they came out of this position of life in the flesh by being quickened through the power of the word addressed to them, applied by the energy of the Spirit; so that they escaped from the flesh through the spiritual life which they received.
Now the end of all things was at hand. The apostle, while speaking of the great principle of responsibility in connection with the testimony of God, draws the attention of believers to the solemn thought of the end of all these things on which the flesh rested. This end drew near.
Here, observe, Peter presents, not the coming of the Lord to receive His own, nor His manifestation with them, but that moment of the solemn sanction of the ways of God, when every refuge of the flesh shall disappear, and all the thoughts of man perish forever.
As regards the relations of God with the world in government, the destruction of Jerusalem, although it was not the end, was of immense importance because it destroyed the very seat of that government on the earth in which the Messiah ought to have reigned, and shall yet reign.
God watches over all things, takes care of His own, counts the hairs of their heads, makes everything contribute to their highest good, but this is in the midst of a world which He no longer owns. For not only is, the earthly and direct government of God set aside, which took place in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and, in a certain sense, in those of Saul; but the Messiah, who ought to reign in it, has been rejected, and has taken the heavenly place in resurrection which forms the subject of this epistle.
The destruction of Jerusalem (which was to take place in those days) was the final abolition of even the traces of that government, until the Lord shall return. The relations of an earthly people with God, on the ground of mans responsibility, were ended. The general government of God took the place of the former; a government always the same in principle, but which, Jesus having suffered on the earth, still allowed His members to suffer here below. And until the time of judgment, the wicked will persecute the righteous, and the righteous must have patience. With regard to the nation, those relations only subsisted till the destruction of Jerusalem; the unbelieving hopes of the Jews, as a nation, were judicially overthrown. The apostle speaks here in a general way, and in view of the effect of the solemn truth of the end of all things, for Christ is still ready to judge; and if there is delay, it is because God wills not the death of the sinner, and that He prolongs the time of grace.
In view of this end of all that we see, we ought to be sober, and watch in order to pray. We ought to have the heart thus exercised towards God, who changes not, who will never pass away, and who preserves us through all the difficulties and temptations of this passing scene until the day of deliverance which is coming. Instead of allowing ourselves to be carried away by present and visible things, we must bridle self and will, and commune with God. This leads the apostle to the inner position of Christians, their relations among themselves, not with Gods general government of the world. They follow because they are Christians, Christ Himself. The first thing that he enforces on them is fervent charity; not merely long-suffering, which would prevent any outbreak of the anger of the flesh, but an energy of love, which by stamping its character on all the ways of Christians towards each other, would practically set aside the action of the flesh, and make manifest the divine presence and action.
Now this love covered a multitude of sins. He is not speaking here with a view to ultimate pardon, but of the present notice which God takes-His present relations of government with His people; for we have present relationships with God. If the assembly is at variance, if there is little love, if the intercourse among Christians is with straightened hearts and difficult, the existing evil, the mutual wrongs, subsist before God: but if there is love, which neither commits nor resents any wrongs, but pardons such things, and only finds in them occasion for its own exercise, it is then the love which the eye of God rests upon, and not the evil. Even if there are misdeeds- sins-love occupies itself about them, the offender is brought back, is restored, by the charity of the assembly; the sins are removed from the eye of God, they are covered. It is a quotation from the Book of Pro 10:12: Hatred stirreth up strife, but love covereth all sins. We have a right to forgive them -to wash the feet of our brother. (Compare Jam 5:15-20 :1Jn 5:16.) We not only forgive, but love maintains the assembly before God according to His own nature so that He can bless it.
Christians ought to exercise hospitality towards each other with all liberality. It is the expression of love, and tends much to maintain it: we are no longer strangers to each other. Gifts come next after the exercise of grace. All comes from God. As every one had received the gift, he was to serve in the gift, as a steward of the varied grace of God. It is God who gives; the Christian is a servant, and under responsibility as a steward, on Gods part. He is to ascribe all to God, in a direct way to God. If he speaks, he is to speak as an oracle of God, that is, as speaking on Gods part, and not from himself. If any one serves in things temporal, let him do it as in a power and an ability that come from God, so that, whether one speaks or serves, God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To Him, the apostle adds, be praise and dominion. Amen.
After these exhortations he comes to suffering for the name of Christ. They were not to view the fiery persecutions that came to try them, as some strange thing that had befallen them. On the contrary, they were connected with a suffering and rejected Christ; they partook therefore in His sufferings, and were to rejoice in it. He would soon appear, and these sufferings for His sake should turn to their exceeding joy at the revelation of His glory. They were therefore to rejoice at sharing His sufferings, in order to be filled with abounding joy when His glory should be revealed. If they were reproached for the name of Christ, it was happy for them. The Spirit of God rested on them. It was the name of Christ that brought reproach on them. He was in the glory with God; the Spirit, who came from that glory and that God, filled them with joy in bearing the reproach. It was Christ who was reproached-Christ who was glorified- reproached by the enemies of the gospel, while Christians had the joy of glorifying Him. It will be observed, that in this passage, it is for Christ Himself (as it has been said) that the believer suffers; and, therefore, the apostle speaks of glory and joy at the appearing of Jesus Christ, which he does not mention in 1Pe 2:20; 1Pe 3:17. (Compare Mat 5:10, and Mat 5:11-12 of the same chapter.)
As an evil-doer then the Christian ought never to suffer; but if he suffered as a Christian, he was not to be ashamed, but to glorify God for it. The apostle then returns to the government of God; for these sufferings of believers had also another character. To the individual who suffered, it was a glory: he shared the sufferings of Christ, and the Spirit of glory and of God rested on him; and all this should turn to abounding joy when the glory was revealed. But God had no pleasure in allowing His people to suffer. He permitted it; and if Christ had to suffer for us when He who knew no sin did not need it for Himself, the people of God have often need on their own account to be exercised with suffering. God uses the wicked, the enemies of the name of Christ, for this purpose. Job is the book that explains this, independently of all dispensations. But in every form of Gods dealings, He exercises His judgments according to the order He has established. He did so with Israel, He does so with the assembly. The latter has a heavenly portion; and if she attaches herself to the earth, God allows the enemy to trouble her. Perhaps the individual who suffers is full of faith and devoted love to the Lord; but, under persecution, the heart feels that the world is not its rest, that it must have its portion elsewhere, its strength elsewhere. We are not of the world which persecutes us. If the faithful servant of God is cut off from this world by persecution, it strengthens faith, for God is in it; but they from the midst of whom he is cut off; suffer and feel that the hand of God was in it: His dealings take the form of judgment, always in perfect love, but in discipline.
God judges everything according to His own nature. He desires that all should be in accordance with His nature. No upright and honourable man would like to have the wicked near him, and always before him; God assuredly would not. And in that which is nearest to Him, He must above all desire that every thing should correspond to His nature and His holiness -to all that He is. I would have everything around me clean enough not to disgrace me; but in my own house I must have such cleanness as I personally desire. Thus judgment must begin at the house of God: the apostle alludes to Eze 9:6. It is a solemn principle. No grace, no privilege, changes the nature of God; and everything must be conformed to that nature, or, in the end, must be banished from His presence. Grace can conform us, and it does. It bestows thedivine nature, so that there is a principle of absolute conformity to God. But as to practical conformity in thought and deed, the heart and the conscience must be exercised, in order that the understanding of the heart, and the habitual desires and aspirations of the will, should be formed upon the revelation of God, and continually directed towards Him.
Now if this conformity should so fail that the testimony of God is injured by its absence, God, who judges His people, and who will judge evil every where, does so by means of the chastisements which He inflicts. Judgment begins at the house of God. The righteous are saved with difficulty. It is evidently not redemption or justification that is here intended, nor the communication of life: those whom the apostle addresses were in possession of them. To our apostle salvation is not only the present enjoyment of the salvation of the soul, but the full deliverance of the faithful, which will take place at the coming of Christ in glory. All the temptations are contemplated, all the trials, all the dangers, through which the Christian will pass in reaching the end of his career. All the power of God is requisite, directed by divine wisdom, guiding and sustaining faith, to carry the Christian safely through the wilderness where Satan employs all the resources of his subtlety to make him perish. The power of God will accomplish it; but, from the human point of view, the difficulties are almost His judgment conformable to the principles of good and evil in His government; and who will in nowise deny Himself in dealing with the enemy of our souls-if the righteous were saved with difficulty, what would become of the sinner and the ungodly? To join them would not be the way to escape these difficulties. In suffering as a Christian, there was but one thing to do-to commit oneself to Him who watched over the judgment that He was executing. For, as it was His hand, one suffered according to His will. It was this that Christ did.
Observe here, that it is not only the government of God, but there is the expression, as unto a faithful Creator. The Spirit of God moves here in this sphere. It is the relationship of God with this world, and the soul knows Him as the One who created it, and who does not forsake the work of His hands. This is Jewish ground-God known in His connection with the first creation. Trust in Him is founded on Christ; but God is known in His ways with this world, and with us in our pilgrimage here below, where He governs, and where He judges Christians, as He will judge all others.
Footnotes for 1 Peter Chapter 4
6: It is not, as in the Authorised Version, yet without sin, true as that may be, but choris hamartia, sin apart. We are tempted, being led away by our own lusts. Christ had all our difficulties, all our temptations, on the way, but had nothing in Himself which could lead Him wrong-far surely from it- nothing which answered to the temptation.
7: Peter rests on the effect; Paul, as ever, goes to the root, Rom 6:1-23.
Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament
ARGUMENT 18
OUR CRUCIFIXION SIMILITUDINOUS TO THAT OF CHRIST
1. Therefore Christ having suffered in the flesh you also arm yourselves with same mind, because the one having suffered in carnality has ceased from sin. As Christ is the only unfallen son of Adam, His physical being was pure. Yet it suffered death on the cross for the sins of the world. How shall we be armed with the same mind? By reason of the fall we all have the carnal mind which Jesus never had. As the mind which rules the body predominates even in its eclipse, so, in common parlance, the body is lost sight of. Hence our crucifixion, which is absolutely necessary, pursuant to true discipleship, while it may include the body, especially if we live in an age of martyrdom, does not essentially mean physical crucifixion, but always and invariably that of the carnal mind, which is utterly destroyed, i.e., crucified in sanctification, leaving the heart pure from all the malevolent affections, the clean temple of the Holy Ghost. In this verse sarx, flesh, occurs twice, antithetically referring to Christ in one case and to us in the other. Hence, in the normal exegesis it refers to Christs mortal body and our carnal mind. This carnal mind is born in us, transmitted from Satan in the fall through Adam. It is conquered in regeneration, when the mind of Christ is imparted by the Holy Ghost; still surviving in subjugation, it is crucified on the cross, when we follow Christ in entire sanctification.
2. This verse describes the beautiful life of the sanctified, no longer in carnality, but in the sweet will of God.
3, 4. Here the Holy Ghost draws an appallingly dark picture of the wicked delighting in brutal sensualities and diabolical debaucheries, and at the same time unutterably astonished because the Lords people will not participate with them in their bacchanalian revelries.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
1Pe 4:3-4. The will of the gentiles. Augustine in his city of God, should be read to see the excess and abominable idolatries of the gentiles. See the notes on Eph 5:12. Romans 1.
1Pe 4:6. For this cause was the gospel preached to them that are dead, that in the day of judgment every mouth may be stopped, as to privilege and dispensation; for the gospel was preached to the old world in the shadows of sacrifice, and in promises. And St. Paul says, that the Israelites who fell in the wilderness had the gospel preached to them. In Biblia Magna, Menobius and Tyrinus suggest that the patriarchs, the prophets, and other righteous men were in limbo or purgatory till the time that Christ went down into the abyss, and brought them forth to eternal blessedness and joy, but they can bring no vouchers for this notion from any of the primitive fathers.
1Pe 4:7. The end of all things is at hand. The church was apprised by the prophecies of the old testament, that an end would be put to the jewish economy, when all its shadows should flee away, and when the unbelieving portion of that nation should be consumed as stubble fully dry, and Jerusalem itself be burnt up, by a nation from afar whose language the jews understood not. Joe 2:28; Joe 2:32. Dan 9:27. Mal 4:1. Deu 28:49-64. These prophecies were now about to receive their consummation, as was apparent from the signs of the times. The Sun of righteousness had risen with gospel beams, and the Hebrew nation were preparing to revolt against the Romans. St. Peter therefore repeats the words of Christ, and bids the scattered flock pray that they might escape all those things, and be able to stand before the Son of man. Luk 21:36.
1Pe 4:8. Charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Not by atoning for them; for St. Peter ascribes that wholly to the lamb of God: St. Peter 1Pe 1:19. But our neighbour, whom we may have often offended, is moved by our charity or love to forgive all that is past: so the fathers expound this text. Yea, and he who considers the poor and the needy hath the promise that God will deliver him in the time of trouble. Psa 41:1. James 5:23.
1Pe 4:11. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. The words of the living oracle are not to be altered. The canon of the sacred text has been scrutinized. The version of the law, in Greek, by the LXX, was collated with the severity of precision, and only thirteen variations were found, some of which, one would think, were too slight to be noticed. The first age of christian ministers, however poor and obscure, became men of letters, and learned in the sacred text. Augustine, writing against Faustus, admits that the writings of that age were innumerable. By consequence all men in the sanctuary should have learning to illustrate and defend the truth. But to speak as the oracles of God, implies not only that our doctrine and teaching should correspond with them as the only standard of truth, but also that we should speak with the wisdom, the love, the sweetness and power of God, that our speech may distil as the rain and the dew, and as the small rain upon the tender herb.
1Pe 4:17. The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. At the church, the family of God, so called from the house of Levi, the house of David, &c. The Lord said to the Chaldeans, Begin at my sanctuary. Eze 9:6. Otherwise, how can God judge the world? The christians were the first sufferers from judaical persecutions, and from the storms and tempests of the gentile world. And if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of those that obey not the gospel? If God so treat his own children, what will he do with his enemies? The interrogation is here properly introduced, as being the strongest possible form of words. Mar 8:36. Heb 2:3. Rev 6:17.
REFLECTIONS.
The idea that the church is Gods house, and great family, both in heaven and in earth, is a most consoling thought to the suffering saints. Then the chastenings of providence are marks of adoption; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not. Judgment therefore must begin at the house of God. So it did in the time when the Chaldeans destroyed Jerusalem. God bade the destroyers begin at his sanctuary. The priests should have preserved the purity of their religion; therefore they perished with the severest reproach. The case differed indeed from the suffering christians, but the principle of equity is the same; and it marks that we should suffer as saints, and not as sinners.
The double inference is the most awful: if God so punish his friends, what will he do with his foes? If he punish his children first, that the wicked may not impeach his equity, and be disobedient to the gospel, the wicked and the ungodly must be drenched with the dregs of the cup. And the two interrogations mark the strongest power of language in arguing the miseries which wait the carnal world. See on Mar 8:36. Thus when the church is in trouble, the wicked may be assured that their day is just at hand.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Pe 4:1-6. Our voluntary suffering in the way of righteousness denotes our fellowship with Christ, and our breaking with sin. Let there be therefore no return, on the part of converts, to the evil life of paganism, even when urged to it by old comrades. They too must face the Divine judgment, which is the same for all, and rules throughout the universe, so that none, alive or dead, can escape this standard, or find any way of salvation save through obedience.
1Pe 4:1. mind: better, thought (mg.).
1Pe 4:6. This verse has been termed the hardest to explain in the NT. In the light of our explanation of 1Pe 3:19 it need not be so, for this is a natural sequence to that passage. These to whom Enoch preached also served their term of punishment. Justice was meted out to them in a way to which no human system of law could take exception, and yet God might have mercy upon them and upon all who turned to Him in true repentance. The reality of judgment is as necessary for men to recognise, as the reality of mercy.
[Possibly the meaning is: Christ preached to the dead that the sinful principle (the flesh) might be destroyed, and that they might be spiritually quickened. The order of the words favours this; and since it is a Pauline common-place that the believer, while still in the body, is no longer in the flesh, the converse that the sinner is still in the flesh when he is no longer in the body is not intrinsically more paradoxical, but strange because unfamiliar.A. S. P.]
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Christ’s suffering in the flesh is set before us then as an example; not His sufferings for us in atonement, which were His alone, but His sufferings in a contrary world, in precious, lowly grace. We are to arm ourselves with the same mind, which at least means a studious, decisive preparedness to willingly suffer wrong. To suffer in the flesh involves the refusal of sin’s enticements, and hence ceasing from sin, the decision of heart to no longer live as subject to natural lusts, but rather as subject to the will of God. This is normal Christianity.
For in retrospect what believer cannot fully agree that his past life has Involved more than sufficient self-will, self-pleasing, and vanity? No doubt some have far more than others walked in the gross excesses listed in the end of v.3; but even a little is more then enough for those who have a true view of the sufferings of Christ.
Ungodly Gentiles no doubt think it strange that believers have no heart to indulge the baser passions in the same excessive follies as they; and for such a reason will speak against them. But both we and they will give account to a higher Judge, He who is ready to judge both the living and dead. Certainly these judgments are far separated as to time, but Christ is already prepared for both judgments. God has exalted Him, and nothing can hinder the judgment that He will execute at the precise time.
In v.6, it is because Christ is ready to judge that the Gospel was preached to them that are dead. It is not said the Gospel is preached to them, nor that it was preached to those who were dead. They are dead now, but the Gospel was preached to them when they were alive. This again refers to the days of Noah (Ch.3:20,21). The object of the preaching was that, while they might be judged according to men in the flesh (as men speak evil of a believer–v.4), yet they might live according to God in the Spirit. This would be the normal, proper result of the preaching received. Noah’s family re-ceived it and suffered from men, but lived, while others died. How insignificant is man’s callous judgment compared to living according to God in the spirit!But it is only very briefly that present conditions will exist: the end of all things is at hands The end is not merely a termination, but that which God has in view, a conclusion of eternal character. Time is but transient, however long it may seem. Sober watchful prayer Is therefore only becoming. We have no time for laxity.
And of greatest importance is fervent love among the saints. For love is the warmth and energy of God’s own nature, in which believers by grace have a share. Light may expose sin, but love covers a multitude of sins. It is certainly not that we are to count-enance or protect what is evil, but love will lead another to Judge his own sin, and thus it is covered, not emblazoned abroad, God delights is such warmth of love.
Hospitality too, with a free heart, is a precious virtue. Let us be glad to show this to others, and never think of it as being an irksome duty. Abraham’s example is most refreshing (Gen 18:1-8).
As to helping others, each also has different abilities, and each is to his gift as being directly answerable to God, who has given It. “It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful,” and it should be a continual exercise of each believer to rightly dispense that with which he has been entrusted “of the manifold grace of God.” This is grace in its many various aspects, such as can supply every believer with more than enough to minister for his entire life.
If one’s gift is that of speaking, he is to do it “as oracles of God.” That is, with a due sense of speaking for God, for which of course he must have solid, clear Scripture. Ministering is service of any kind, and to be engaged in diligently, as God gives ability. The object is that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, for to Him is praise and dominion forever. Such motives will always be accompanied by diligence.
Now the apostle returns to the subject of suffering, urging saints not to think it strange that they are to be tried by a “fiery trial.” In fact, rather than strange, it is to be expected by a Christian, for men’s hearts are naturally opposed to God. But we are told to rejoice because this is in some measure at least partaking of Christ’s sufferings. And it is in prospect of the near revelation of Christ in His glory, when present suffering will give place to exceeding joy for the child of God. The contrast of course is marvelous beyond description; but in the midst of present suffering, to set our eyes on that precious prospect is the way of overcoming with rejoicing.
Chapter 2:14 has spoken of happiness in suffering for righteousness’ sake: now verse 14 insists too that suffering reproach for the name of Christ is a matter of happiness for in this God will give to the soul a precious sense of the “Spirit of glory and of God resting approvingly upon the sufferer. For if Christ is evil spoken of by persecutors, yet on the part of the persecuted believer He is glorified. God cannot fail to take full account of this, for He greatly values the faith that glorifies his Son.
How sadly inconsistent however would be the contrast of one suffering as a murderer, a thief, or even as a busybody. Such suffering would be deserved, both as to present punishment and eternal loss.
But if one suffers as a Christian, he is encouraged not to be ashamed; for this is really worthwhile, and he may wholeheartedly glorify God on this account.The time is now come that judgment must begin at the house of God. God uses every kind of distress and trial In the discipline of His own house, the Church of God; and this includes the unjust persecutions of the world. This judgment will culminate at the judgment seat of Christ, when we shall see the precious fruits of His discipline in a way never properly known before. But since we are children of God now, then certainly we expect to have our Father’s governing discipline.
And if there is such discerning judgment as to the house of God, what shall it be in His dealing (not as a Father, but) strictly as a Judge in reference to those who refuse to obey the Gospel of His grace? Simply the question as to their end is enough to awaken awesome dread in the soul. For if the righteous are, with difficulty, saved (that is, with the discipline of trial, sorrow, distress); where shall appear the ungodly, who have not known such things? Though the answer is not here given, Rev 20:11-15 is plain that they shall appear before the Great White Throne, to be judged according to their works, and cast into the lake of fire. If the believer feels inclined to be envious of the unbeliever, let him stop and consider their contrasting ends.
And the subject is concluded with an encouraging exhortation to those who find themselves suffering according to the will of God: they are not told to appeal to the world, but to God, committing their souls to Him in doing well, regardless of consequences now. For He is a faithful Creator, taking full account of all that affects His creatures, always to be depended upon, no matter what present appearances may be.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
In the early verses of chapter 4 the apostle continues his theme of suffering for righteousness’ sake. Enlarging upon the statement that it is better to suffer for well-doing than for wrong-doing, he draws a contrast between the Christian and the men of this world. He shows that the Christian is to have done with sin, and live the rest of his time to the will of God. Thus his life as a Christian will be a complete contrast to his past life when unconverted, as well as to the life that men are living in the world – the life dominated by sin, or the will of the flesh.
(1Pe 4:1). In order that the Christian may be strengthened to have done with sin, or the gratification of the will of the flesh, the apostle sets Christ before us as our perfect Example. Christ came into the world to do the will of God; and though He never had to meet sin within, as we have, yet He was tempted to the utmost by sin without: every conceivable adverse power was arrayed against Him, the contradiction of sinners, the power of the devil, the claims of natural relationships, the ignorance of disciples, and at last the power of death, all brought to bear upon Christ in the endeavour to move Him from the path of perfect obedience to the will of the Father. He resisted every temptation, and chose death rather than disobedience, and that too when, as it has been said, death had the character of wrath against sin and judgment. Bitter as the cup was, He drank it rather than not fulfil to the uttermost His Father’s will and glorify Him. Suffering death rather than yielding to the principle of sin, He has by dying done with sin for ever.
It is ever the great effort of the enemy to entrap believers into sin by tempting us to gratify the flesh in some form or other. He knows the particular form of gratification that will appeal to each one, and tempts us accordingly. To meet his temptations we are instructed to arm ourselves against sin by having the same mind as Christ – the mind to suffer rather than yield to sin. If we yield, the flesh does not suffer; on the contrary it is gratified: but we sin, and in due course suffer the governmental consequences of sinning. If we refuse to yield to sin, the flesh suffers, but we cease from sin, and live to the will of God, enjoying the blessedness of so doing.
(V. 2). To cease from sin, however right, is only a negative virtue: the apostle therefore passes on to speak of the positive side of Christian life. Conversion divides the life here into two distinct periods: first , the time past of our life; secondly, the rest of his time in the flesh. As to the time that is left, it is only consistent, as the apostle says, that we should no longer live to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. We arm our-selves against Satan by making up our minds to suffer rather than sin, and by setting our faces toward God with the desire to do His will.
(V. 3). The time past of our life was marked by doing our own will, and the character of that will was shown by our walk. In the case of these Jewish believers they had walked according to the will of the Gentiles, committing the same excesses, clearly showing that the will of an unconverted Jew is the same as that of an unconverted Gentile.
(V. 4). The men of the world wonder that believers abstain from the indulgences of the flesh, refusing to join with them in pouring their life into the sink of corruption, such as the world without God has become. Having no knowledge of God, nor of the desires and affections of the new nature, which make the lusts of the flesh repellent to the believer, they can only impute some evil motive as actuating those who refuse to join with them in their life of self-indulgence. So the devil, incapable of appreciating goodness, suggested to God that the piety of Job was not real – that he refrained from evil, not because he hated evil or loved God, but simply because he found it paid to refrain from excesses.
In the former chapter we learnt that the world falsely imputes evil to the believer, and then condemns him for doing evil (1Pe 3:16). Here the world condemns the believer because he refuses to do evil. Thus apart from what the believer may do, or not do, the fallen nature of man is convicted of being in opposition to all that is of God.
(V. 5). Men may indulge the flesh and speak evil of those who fear God; but God is not indifferent to their godless lives, nor their treatment of His people. They will have to give an account to God, who is ready to judge the living as well as those who have already died.
(V. 6). For this cause the Gospel was preached to those who are now dead, so that, on the one hand, judgment may take its course on those who, having been warned, refuse the Gospel and continue to live as regards men after the flesh, or, on the other hand, by receiving the Gospel they might be blessed, and, abandoning their old life, live as regards God, according to the Spirit. God proclaims grace but does not give up His government whereby evil is dealt with in righteousness. The verse does not imply that the Gospel was preached to men after they were dead. It was preached to living men who are now dead. There would be no sense in suggesting that dead men could live, either after the flesh’s lusts, or in the power of the Spirit.
(V. 7). In this verse the apostle sums up the Christian attitude to the world that he is passing through. It is a world of excess and riot in which men do their own wills, gratify their lusts, and speak evil of the Christian, who is made to suffer for righteousness’ sake, who suffers patiently, and who suffers in the flesh rather than yield to sin. In the presence of the world’s evil and his own suffering, the Christian is to remember that the end of all things is at hand. The end, with all that it involves, whether of judgment for the unconverted or blessing for the Christian, calls for sobriety and watchfulness with prayer, sobriety in view of the end to which all is leading, watchfulness as to all that is around, and prayer in relation to God.
7.
The Christian Circle
(1Pe 4:8-11)
In the preceding portion of the Epistle we have had a solemn picture of the world abandoning itself to the gratification of the flesh, in contrast to those who do the will of God and suffer rather than sin. In these verses we pass within the Christian circle to learn the conduct that becomes believers among themselves.
(V. 8). If lust marks the world sphere (verse 2), love is the out-standing mark of the Christian company. Other qualities will shine in that circle, but the crowning quality – the one without which all else is vain – is love; therefore, says the apostle, above all things have fervent love among yourselves. For the third time in the course of his Epistle, the apostle presses love as the outstanding quality of the Christian company. (See 1Pe 1:22; 1Pe 3:8).
Love is far from being indifferent to sin; but love does not necessarily expose sins, or gloat over the failure of others. If possible, love will deal with sins privately, so that they do not needlessly become public. When they are dealt with, and judged, love will no longer speak of them or spread them abroad. Love does not make mischief, or lead people to act as busybodies. Love covers a multitude of sins, as the wise man says, Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins (Pro 10:12).
(V. 9). Moreover, in a circle where we are no longer strangers to one another, but drawn together by the bonds of Christ, love will delight to use hospitality, as the opportunity arises, and, where fervent love prevails, the hospitality will be without murmuring.
(Vv. 10, 11). Passing from the use of temporal means, the apostle gives practical directions as to the use of spiritual gifts. Each one, as he has received a gift, is responsible to use it in relation to God as a steward of the grace of God. If any man speak, it is to be as the oracles of God, with the conviction that he is ministering a message that conveys the mind of God for the moment. It is not simply that he speaks the truth according to the oracles of God, but he gives the mind of God as the oracles of God.
The apostle further distinguishes between ministry and speaking. Prejudiced, it may be, by what obtains in Christendom, we are inclined to limit ministry to speaking, whereas ministry includes much service to the Lord’s people in which speaking has little or no part. It is not, indeed, that the spoken word is not ministry, but that ministry is more than speech.
Whatever form the ministry takes, it is to be exercised according to the ability that God gives. Thus natural ability is recognised as given of God. In grace God gives spiritual gifts, but He does so to every man according to his several ability (Mat 25:15). It is true, as one has said, that no ability constitutes a gift; but the spiritual gift does not supersede natural ability. As we can see, in giving Paul his gift, God recognised his natural ability, so that he is able to present doctrine in an orderly way. Peter, probably more fitted by his natural ability to deal with everyday practice, is given a gift in accord with this ability; his ministry, therefore, is almost wholly practical.
Whatever the spiritual gift, whatever form the ministry takes, whatever the natural ability, all is to be used for the glory of God that God in all things may be glorified. We are to beware of the vanity of the flesh that would seek to use these things for the exaltation of self.
This beautiful picture of the Christian circle presents a company of believers marked above all by love for one another, where hospitality meets temporal needs, and where the varied gifts of the manifold grace of God are used for the spiritual blessing of the company and the glory of God in all things, all being bound together through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
8.
Suffering for the Name of Christ
(1Pe 4:12-19)
Already the apostle has spoken of suffering for conscience’ sake (1Pe 2:19), and suffering for righteousness’ sake (1Pe 3:14). Now he speaks of suffering for the Name of Christ. The confession of Christ in life and testimony had brought upon the Jewish believers the fire of persecution.
(Vv. 12-14).That the world, living according to its lusts without fear of God, should come under judgment is manifestly righteous; but that the believer, who refrains from lust, seeks the will of God, walks in sobriety and watchfulness, seeking in all things that God should be glorified, should be allowed to pass through a fiery trial, might appear as a strange thing. It would, however, only appear strange to those believers who viewed the trial in connection with themselves. Viewing the trial in connection with Christ, the One in whom they believed, who had become precious to them, and whom they loved, it would no longer appear some strange thing that could not be explained. For the Christ that the believer follows is a rejected Christ who suffered in this world, and whose Name is reproached by men. The fire of persecution these believers were passing through was because they confessed the Name of Christ, and above all showed forth in their lives the excellencies of Christ, as the apostle says, On your part He is glorified. In these believers there was an answer to the Lord’s prayer when He said to the Father, I am glorified in them (Joh 17:10).
It is this that calls forth the opposition of the devil and the world. Any witness to the glory of Christ is intolerable to the world and the devil. The more faithful the witness to Christ and His excellencies, the more believers will suffer.
As the suffering is for Christ’s sake, it should be a matter of joy rather than wonder. Rejoice, says the apostle, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; and again, If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ, happy are ye. Moreover, even as the sufferings and reproach of Christ have an answer in glory, so those who suffer for His Name’s sake will share His glory in the day of His revelation. This coming glory, if realised in its blessedness, would lead the saint in the midst of trial to be glad also with exceeding joy. Every bit of suffering that God may allow His people to pass through for Christ’s sake is a pledge of coming glory. The Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God who had come from glory, rested upon these suffering saints, and was the earnest of the coming glory. The world may speak evil of Christ, but, in the power of the Spirit of God, He is glorified on the part of the saints.
Some might argue that such persecution could easily be explained in the days of the apostle, when believers were faced with the deadly opposition of Judaism and the awful corruptions of heathenism, but that all is changed today, when we are living in Christendom where Christ is owned. This argument could only be advanced by those who view Christendom in outward appearance. It is true that Christendom has erected many magnificent buildings, professedly in honour of Christ, and carries on vast benefactions under His Name, and we might be deceived into thinking that Christ is in honour, and no longer in reproach. We know, however, that Christendom has become wholly corrupt, and that the great profession is nauseous to Christ. As in the day of the apostle, so now, He is evil spoken of by the mass of the religious world. Any true witness of Christ is obnoxious to the officialism of men’s ecclesiastical systems, to the gross materialism of Protestantism, as well as to the superstition of Rome. The mere profession, whether papal or protestant, always has been, and always will be, a persecutor of the true witness for Christ. It is still true that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
(Vv. 15, 16). We are then warned against the possibility of the believer suffering as an evildoer. Though Christians, if we do evil, we shall suffer under the government of God, indeed, all the more so because we are Christians. We may escape the grosser evils and yet suffer as a busy-body in other men’s matters. This will only bring shame upon ourselves. To suffer as a Christian is no shame, but rather an occasion of glory to God.
(Vv. 17, 18). The solemn possibility of a believer suffering for wrong-doing is a proof that the government of God is not confined to the world. As we have seen, the world will have to give an account to God, who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Here, however, that judgment begins even now at the house of God. It would be contrary to the nature of God to allow evil to pass unnoticed in His own house. This judgment of God, in connection with His house, is wholly governmental and applies to the present time. It has reference to believers, for the apostle does not contemplate any but living stones. We have a solemn instance of this governmental dealing in the case of the Corinthian assembly. On account of the unworthy ways of some, God acted in chastening, as we read, For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep (1Co 11:30).
Further, if God does not spare His own people, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God? If the righteous are with difficulty brought through the trials, the opposition, and the dangers of this world, into the full salvation of glory, what possibility of escape is there for the ungodly and the sinner?
(V. 19). If such are the difficulties, the dangers, and the opposition in the path of the believer, it is evident that in his own strength he never can come safely through this wilderness world. Only the power of God can sustain him. Well it is for us to reach this conclusion, and, in the presence of every form of suffering, commit the keeping of our souls to Him. But let this be accompanied with well doing, even if it involves suffering; only as we are doing well shall we have the confidence that can cast all upon God. It is here a question of being preserved in this world, and therefore we turn to God as unto a faithful Creator, One who is the preserver of all men, specially of those that believe (1Ti 4:10).
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
4:1 Forasmuch {1} 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;
(1) Having ended his digression and sliding from his matter, now he returns to the exhortation which he broke off, taking occasion by that which he said concerning the death and resurrection of Christ, so defining our sanctification, that to be sanctified, is all one has to suffer in the flesh, that is to say, to leave off from our wickedness and viciousness: and to rise again to God, that is to say, to be renewed by the virtue of the holy Spirit, that we may lead the rest of our life which remains after the will of God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. Living with the promise in view 4:1-6
Since Jesus Christ has gained the victory, Peter urged his readers to rededicate themselves to God’s will as long as they might live. He wanted to strengthen their resolve to continue to persevere. He resumed here the exhortation that he broke off in 1Pe 3:17. Generally speaking, 1Pe 4:1-3 focus on Christian behavior and 1Pe 4:4-6 on pagan response.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Peter’s present appeal grew out of what he had just said about Christ’s victory (1Pe 3:18; 1Pe 3:21 c, 22). In view of His example of committing Himself to accomplishing God’s will, Peter called his readers to commit themselves to the same purpose (cf. 1Pe 3:15). Jesus suffered to the extent of dying, and Christians should be willing to suffer to the same extent. Selwyn regarded Peter’s statement here as the keystone of his whole doctrinal arch in this epistle. [Note: Selwyn, p. 195.]
In the second part of the verse, Peter probably meant that his readers had identified themselves with Christ’s suffering and death (in water baptism). They should, therefore, put sin behind them and live a clean life (cf. Rom 6:1-11). Roman Catholic interpreters have seen this verse as support for their doctrine of purgatory. They believe that Peter meant that suffering purifies the life. The aorist participle (Gr. pathon, "has suffered") normally is antecedent in time to the main verb, which here is in the perfect tense (pepantai, "has ceased"). Suffering precedes ceasing, but Peter apparently meant that suffering with Christ should lead to a more holy life (cf. 1Pe 4:2). It does not inevitably do so.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 12
THE LESSONS OF SUFFERING
1Pe 4:1-6
IT is always hard to swim against the stream; and if the effort be a moral one, the difficulty is not lessened. These early Christians were finding it so. For them there must have existed hardships of which today we can have no experience, and form but an imperfect estimate. If they lived among a Jewish population, these were sure to be offended at the new faith. And when we remember the zeal for persecution of a Saul of Tarsus, we can see that in many cases the better the Jew the more would he feel himself bound, if possible, to exterminate the new doctrines. Among the heathen the lot of the Christians was often worse. Did the people listen a while to the teaching of the missionaries, yet so unstable were they that, as at Lystra, today might see them stoning those whom yesterday they were venerating as gods; and they could easily, by reason of their greater numbers, bring the magistrates to inflict penalties even where the multitude refrained from mob violence. The cry, “These men exceedingly trouble our city,” or “These who turn the world upside down are come among us,” was sure to find a ready audience; while the uproar and violence which raged in a city like Ephesus, when Paul and his companions preached there, show how many temporal interests could be banded together against the Christian cause. On individual believers, not of the number of the preachers, the more violent attacks might not fall; but to suffer in the flesh was the lot of most of them in St. Peters day. Hence the strong figure he employs to describe the preparation they will need: “Arm ye yourselves” – make you ready, for you are going forth to battle. St. Paul also, writing to Rome and Corinth, uses the same figure: “Let us put on the armor of light,” “the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.”
“Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind.” Though some strokes of the foe will fall on the flesh, the conflict is really a spiritual one. The suffering in the body is to be sustained and surmounted by an inward power; the armor of light and of righteousness is the equipment of the soul, which panoply the Apostle here calls the mind of Christ. Now what is the mind of Christ which can avail His struggling servants? The word implies intention, purpose, resolution, that on which the heart is set. Now the intention of Christs life was to oppose and overcome all that was evil, and to consecrate Himself to all good for the love of His people. This latter He tells us in His parting prayer for His disciples: “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth,” {Joh 17:19} while every action of His life proclaims His determined enmity against sin. This brought Him obloquy while He lived in the world, and in the end a shameful death; but these things did not abate His hatred of sin, nor lessen His love for sinners. For still into the city where He reigns there shall in no wise enter anything that defileth, {Rev 21:27} though to the faithful penitent “the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and he that is athirst, let him come; he that will, let him take the water of life freely”. {Rev 22:17}
Christ bare willingly all that was laid upon Him that He might bring men unto God. This is the spirit, this the purpose, the intent, with which His followers are to be actuated: to have the same strenuous abhorrence of sin, the same devotion in themselves to goodness, which shall make them inflexible, however fiercely they may be assailed. Let them only make the resolve, and power shall be bestowed to strengthen them. He who says, “Arm yourselves,” supplies the weapons when His servants need them. Jesus Himself found them ready when the tempter came, and drew them in all their keenness and strength from the Divine armory. Satan comes to others as he came to Christ, and will make them flinch and waver, if he can. At times he offers attractive baits; at times he brings fear to his aid. But, in whatever shape he comes or sends his agents, let them but cling to the mind of Christ, and they shall, like Him, say triumphantly, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”
“For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.” God intends it to be so, and the earnest Christian strives with all his might that it may be so. To help men God sends them sufferings, and intends them to have a moral effect on the life. They are not penal; they are the discipline of perfect love desiring that men should be held back from straying. Men cannot always see the purposes of God at first, and are prone to bewail their lot. But here and there a saint of old has left his testimony. One of the later psalmists had discovered the blessedness of God-sent trials: “Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I observe Thy word”; and, in thankful acknowledgment of the love which sent the blows, he adds, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn Thy statutes”. {Psa 119:67; Psa 119:71} Hezekiah had learnt the lesson, though it brought him close to the gates of the grave; but he testifies, “Behold, it was for my peace that I had great bitterness. Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” {Isa 38:17} God had blotted out the evil record that he who had suffered in the flesh might cease from sin. It is good for us thus to recognize that Gods dispensations are for our correction and teaching, and that without them we should have been verily desolate, left to choose our own way, which would surely have been evil; and though we cannot cease from sin while we are in the flesh, Gods mercy places the ideal state before us-“He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin”- that we may be strengthened, nevermore to submit ourselves to the yoke of wickedness. How shall he that is dead to sin live any longer therein? Live therein he cannot. Of that old man within him he will have no resurrection, for though the motions, the promptings to evil, are there, the love of evil is slain by the greater love of Christ.
“That ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” Christians must live out their lives till God calls them, and for the rest of their time in the flesh they will be among their wonted surroundings. Just as Christian slaves must abide with their masters, and Christian wives continue with their husbands, so each several believer must do his duty where God has placed him. But because he is a believer it will be done in a different spirit. He is daily cutting himself away from what the world counts for life; he has begun to live in the Spirit, and the natural man is weakened day by day; he knows that what is born of the flesh is flesh, and bears the taint of sin: so he refuses to follow where it would lead him. Men often plead for evil habits that they are natural, forgetting that “natural” thus used means human, corrupt nature. The birth of the Spirit transforms this nature, and the renewed man goes about his worldly life with a new motive, new purposes. He must follow his lawful calling like other folks, but the sense of his pilgrimage makes him to differ; he is longing to depart, and holds himself in constant readiness. Worldly men live as though they were rooted here and would never be moved. “Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names”. {Psa 49:11} To the servant of Christ life wears another aspect. He is content to live on, for God so wills it, and has work for him to do. To continue in the flesh may be, as it was to St. Paul, the fruit of his labor. And he welcomes this owning of his work, and will spend his powers in like service. Yet, with the Apostle, he has ever “the desire to depart and be with Christ, for it is very far better”. {Php 1:23} And as he strives to fulfill Gods intent by crucifying the old man and ceasing from sin, the Christian rejoices in a growing sense of freedom. To follow the lusts of men was to serve many and hard taskmasters. Riches, fame, luxury, sensual indulgences, riotous living, are all keen to win new slaves, and paint their lures in the most attractive colors; and one appetite will make itself the ally of another, lust hard by greed, so that the chains of him who takes service with them are riveted many times over, and difficult, often impossible, to be cast off. But the will of God is one: “One is your Master”; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart”; “And all ye are brethren”; “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Then shall you enter into life. And the life of this promise is not that fragment of time, which remains to men in the flesh, but that unending afterlife where the natural body shall be exchanged for a spiritual body, and death be swallowed up in victory.
“For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles.” The Apostle here seems to be addressing the Jews who, living among the Gentiles, had, like their forefathers in Canaan, learned their works. The nation was not so prone to fall away into heathendom after the Captivity; yet some of them in the dispersion, like Samson when he went down unto the Philistines, may have been captured and blinded and made to serve. The proximity of evil is infectious. To the Gentile converts St. Peter speaks elsewhere as having been slaves to their lusts in ignorance. {1Pe 1:14} But whether Jew or Gentile, when they had once tasted the joy of this purer service, this law of obedience which made them truly free, they would be strengthened to suffer in the flesh rather than fall back upon their former life. The time would seem enough, far more than enough, to have been thus defiled. All was Gods; all that remained must be given to Him with strenuous devotion.
St. Peter seems to place in contrast, as he describes the two ways of life, two words, one by which he denotes the service of God, by the other devotion to the world and its attractions. The former () implies a pleasure and joy; it is the will of God that which He delights in, and which He makes to be a joy to those who serve Him. The other () has a sense of longing, unsatisfied want, a state which craves for something which it cannot attain. St. Paul describes it as “led away by divers lusts, ever learning” (but in an evil school), “never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, corrupted in mind, reprobate”. {2Ti 3:7} Such is the desire of the Gentiles. The Apostle describes it in his next words: “To have walked in lasciviousness, lusts, winebibbings, revellings, carousings, and abominable idolatries.” How gross heathendom can be our missionaries from time to time reveal to us. All the corruptions, which they describe, were reigning in full power round about these converts. When men change the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of corruptible man or even worse, and worship and serve the creature, their own animal passions, rather than the Creator, there is no depth of degradation to which they may not sink. St. Paul has painted for us some dark pictures of what such lives could be. {Rom 1:24-32; Col 3:5-8} But though Christianity in our own land has forced sin to veil some of its fouler aspects, vice has not changed its nature. The same passions rule in the hearts of those who live to the lusts of men, and not to the will of God. The flesh warreth against the Spirit, even if the Spirit be not utterly quenched, and brings men into its slavery. For the sake of Christ, then, and for love of the brethren, the faithful have need still to be proclaiming, “Let the time past suffice,” and by their actions to testify that they are willing to suffer in the flesh, if so be they may thereby be sustained in the battle against sin and may strengthen their brethren to walk in a new way.
“Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.” The godless love to be a large company, that they may keep one another in heart. Hence they who have been of them, and would fain withdraw, have no easy task; and to win new comrades sinners are ever most solicitous. Their invitations at first will take a friendly tone. Solomon understood them well, and described them in warning to his son: “Come with us,” they say: “let us lay wait for blood; let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause; let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, and whole as those that go down into the pit. We shall find all precious substance; we shall fill our houses with spoil. Thou shalt cast thy lot among us; we will all have one purse”. {Pro 1:11-14} This is one fashion of their excess of riot, but there are many more. The Apostles words picture their life as an overflow, a deluge. And the figure is not strange in Holy Writ. “The floods of ungodly men made me afraid,” says the Psalmist; {Psa 18:14} and St. Jude, writing about the same time as St. Peter and of the same evil days, calls such sinners “wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shames”. {Jud 1:13} “Shames,” he says, because the floods of excess pour on in overwhelming abundance, and those who escape from them do so only with much suffering in the flesh, sent of God, to set them free from sin.
And if there be no hope of winning recruits or alluring back those who have escaped, the godless follow another course. They hate, and persecute, and malign. Ever since the days of Cain this has been the policy of the wicked, though not all push it so far as did the first murderer. {1Jn 3:12} For the life of the righteous is a constant reproach to them. They have made their own choice, but it yields them no comfort; and if one means of making others as wretched as themselves fails, they take another. They point the finger of hatred and scorn at the faithful. To the Greeks Christs faith was foolishness. The Athenians, full of this worlds wisdom, asked about Paul, “What will this babbler say?” and mocked as they heard of the resurrection of the dead. With them and such as they this life is all. But the Christian has his consolation: he has committed his cause to another Judge, before whom they also who speak evil of him must appear.
“Who shall give account to Him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.” The Christian looks on to the coming judgment. He can therefore disregard the censures of men. Neither the penalties nor the revilings of the world trouble him. They are a part of the judgment in the present life; by them God is chastening him, preparing him by the suffering in the flesh to be more ready for the coming of the Lord. In that day it will be seen how the servant has been made like unto his Master, how he has welcomed the purging which Christ gives to His servants that they may bring forth more fruit. He believes, yea knows, that in the Judge who has been teaching and judging him here day by day he will find a Mediator and a Savior. With the unbeliever all is otherwise. He has refused correction, has chosen his own path, and drawn away his neck from the yoke of Christ; his judgment is all yet to come. The Judge is ready, but He is full of mercy. St. Peters phrase implies this. It tells of readiness, but also of holding back, of a desire to spare. He is on His throne, the record is prepared, but yet He waits; He is Himself the long-suffering Vinedresser who pleads, “Let it alone this year also.”
Such has been the mercy of God even from the days of Eden. In the first temptation Eve adds one sin upon another. First she listens to the insidious questioning which proclaims the speaker a foe to God: then without remonstrance she hears Gods truth declared a lie; hearkens to an aspersion of the Divine goodness; then yields to the tempter, sins, and leads her husband into sin. Not till then does Gods judgment fall, which might have fallen at the first offence; and when it is pronounced, it is full of pity, and gives more space for repentance. So, though the Judge be ready, His mercy waits. For He will judge the dead as well as the living: and while men live His compassion goes forth in its fullness to the ignorant and them that are out of the way. “For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” “Unto this end” what does it signify? What but that God has ever been true to the name under which He first revealed Himself: “The Lord God, merciful and gracious”; {Exo 34:6} that He has been preaching the Gospel to stoners by His dispensations from the first day until now? Thus was the Gospel preached unto Abraham {Gal 3:8} when he was called from the home of his fathers, and pointed forward through a life of trial to a world-wide blessing. Heeding the lesson, he was gladdened by the knowledge of the day of Christ. In like manner and unto this end was the Gospel sent to Gods people in the wilderness, {Heb 4:2} even as unto us; but the word of hearing did not profit them. With many of them God was not well pleased. Yet He showed them in signs His Gospel sacraments. They were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, did all eat the same spiritual meat, and all drank the same spiritual drink, {1Co 10:2-4} for Christ was with them, as their Rock of refreshing, all their journey through the desert, preaching the Gospel by visitations now of mercy, now of affliction. Unto this end He brought them many a time under the yoke of their enemies; unto this end He sent them into captivity. Thus were they being judged, as men count judgments, if haply they might listen in this life to the gospel of trial and pain, and so live at last, as God counts life, in the spirit, when the final judgment-day is over. They are dead, but to every generation of them was the Gospel preached, that God might gather Him a great multitude to stand on His right hand in the day of account.
Some have applied the Words of this verse to the sinners of the days of Noah, connecting them closely with 1Pe 3:19; and truly, though they be but one example out of a world of mercies, they are very notable. They were doomed; they were dead while they lived: “Everything that is in the earth shall die”. {Gen 6:17} Yet to them the preacher was sent, and unto this end: that though they were to be drowned in the Deluge, and so in mens sight be judged, their souls might be saved, as God would have them saved, in the great day of the Lord. But every visitation is a gospel, a gospel unto this end: that through judgment here a people may be made ready in Gods sight to be called unto His rest.
Few passages have more powerful lessons than this for every age. The world is full of suffering in the flesh. Who has not known it in many kinds? But it is in consequence, to those who will hear, very full of Gospel sermons. They cry aloud, Sin no more; the time past may suffice to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. Suffering does not mean that God is not full of love; rather it is a token that, in His great love, He is training us, opening our eyes to our wrong-doings that we may cast them off, and giving us a true standard to judge between the desire of the Gentiles and the will of God. And though men may look on us as sore afflicted, our Father, when the rest of our time in the flesh shall be ended, will give us the true life with Him in the spirit.