1 Peter 1:17

SOJOURNING IN FEAR

‘Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.’

1 Peter 1:17

That seems to be a discouraging kind of exhortation to give, and it contrasts very remarkably at first hearing with the raptures of the previous part of this chapter. But it is not really so. Let us think for a moment of what the temper of mind which is enjoined upon us here really is. Do not let us be led away by words. The word fear means a great many different kinds of emotions. Its lowest form is that of a shadowy apprehension of personal mischief. But then it runs through all the gamut, or scale, of different kinds of emotions until it gets right up into a thing that the calm angels who stand before God’s throne, serene in their perfect blessedness, have in the loftiest measure. ‘For God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of His saints.’ And so fear, as inculcated upon a Christian, as the companion of his continual hope, and of his unspeakable joy, and of his deep and central love, means, first and foremost, that lowly, thrilling, and glad apprehension of the greatness and majesty of our God.

I. The grounds upon which this temper is urged upon us by the Apostle.—They are two, one of which precedes the exhortation, one which follows it. The commandment is thus, as it were, like a jewel in the setting, embedded in the reasons upon which it reposes.

(a) Here is the form of the first. ‘If ye call on the Father,’ or, as it may be rendered, ‘If ye call Him Father, Who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.’ Now that has no reference to a future judgment. There is emphasis in the present tense. ‘He without respect of persons judgeth,’ not will judge. He does it each moment, and judges His children just because they are His children, for judgment begins at the house of God. And this is the Apostle’s thought, that the paternal and filial relation make it certain that a Christian man’s faults will all bring about, here and now, and all but contemporaneously with their doing—will all bring about consequences that He will not like.

(b) The second motive upon which the exhortation is based follows it: ‘Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation.’ The word ‘conversation’ is the noun, governing the verb in the text rendered ‘ pass the time of your sojourning.’ ‘But with the precious blood of Christ, as a Lamb without blemish and without spot.’ That is to say, did God think it worth His while to lavish such expenditure of power, and to make that great sacrifice, and shall not we, knowing the expense at which our redemption from a vain conversation and conduct has been made possible, see to it that a holy conversation and conduct marks us? The fear is to be built upon gratitude, therefore there may be nothing in it of terror or of slavery. The remembrance of the price at which our redemption has been purchased should stimulate us to all diligence, ‘to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord.’

II. Note the duration of this duty.—‘Let your conduct be in fear,’ as the element in which it moves, as it were, ‘during the time of your sojourning.’ Travellers in a strange land do not lie down at night without setting a guard over the camp; if they have no sentries, ten chances to one at midnight the wolf will come down on the fold, and all will be sudden alarm and confusion. And so says St. Peter. All evil assaults us suddenly. So ‘pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.’

III. The brevity of the watch may help to keep us awake while we have to watch. It is only a temporary lodging, says St. Peter; you are not going to stop here always. A man gets into questionable quarters in the course of his travels; and he is not quite sure about the dispositions of the people downstairs, and he says to himself, ‘I will sit up all night rather than run any risks. It will be morning before long.’ And so says St. Peter, Do not mind if you have to sit up all night and keep a watch; it is only a night after all. It is a part of your sojourning here in fear. When there are no more temptations, when there are no more dangers, when there are no more sins, there need be no more fear.