_HE EXHORTETH THEM TO CEASE FROM SIN BY THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST, AND THE CONSIDERATION OF THE GENERAL END THAT NOW APPROACHETH; AND COMFORTETH THEM AGAINST PERSECUTION._ _Anno Domini 65._ THE apostle having told the brethren of Pontus, &c. that it was better to suffer as well-doers, than as evildoer... [ Continue Reading ]
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;_ (Ephesians 6:11.)conscious that you ought to suffer for the truth... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE TIME PAST OF OUR LIFE, &C.— St. Peter did not mean that it is lawful for men to satiate themselves with vice, and that they need not leave it off till they are weary of it; but he stirs up those to whom he wrote, to care and diligence for the future, in the practice of holiness, from the con... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREIN THEY THINK IT STRANGE, &C.— In the Syriac the words run thus: _And behold now, they are amazed and blaspheme_ you, because you do not grow wanton with them in the same intemperance as formerly. 'Εν ω, _wherein,_ or _in which,_ refers to the will _of the Gentiles,_ 1 Peter 4:3. The word ξενιζ... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR, FOR THIS CAUSE WAS THE GOSPEL PREACHED, &C.— "For this is the end for which the gospel was preached to those believers, who are now _the dead in Christ_ (1 Thessalonians 4:16.), as well as to those who are still living upon earth, that they, by a divine power attending it, being thoroughly mort... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE END OF ALL THINGS IS AT HAND:— That is, of all things relating to the Jewish temple, city, and nation:—an event, which so strongly corroborated the prophecies, and was on many accounts so alarming in itself, and so confirmatory of the Christian religion, that we cannot wonder the sacred writ... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABOVE ALL THINGS HAVE FERVENT CHARITY— See on James 5:12. Lest they should imagine that the _sobriety_ and _prayer_ recommended in the preceding verse were all that was required of them, St. Peter here inculcates mutual love, as a principal part of their duty. They were to make conscience of all... [ Continue Reading ]
USE HOSPITALITY, &C.— We have had frequent occasion to remark the especial necessity and importance of hospitality, for the want of inns in the Eastern world. Dr. Robertson, speaking of the little intercourse between nations during the middle ages of Christianity, observes as a proof hereof, "that t... [ Continue Reading ]
AS EVERY MAN HATH RECEIVED, &C.— "And as all talents for _public_ offices, as well as private capacities of usefulness in the church, are the free gift of God, let every one who is favoured with them, be careful to employ them, in proportion to what he has received, for the advantage and edification... [ Continue Reading ]
IF ANY MAN SPEAK, &C.— St. Peter having, in the preceding verse, spoken of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which were distributed among the Christians in great diversity,—and recommended it to everyone to make use of his own spiritual gifts for the good of the church,—in this verse he descends to parti... [ Continue Reading ]
_1 PETER 4:12_.— St. Peter here returns to what he has often touched upon in this epistle; namely, to exhort the Christians to behave with patience and integrity under their present severe persecution. To which purpose he uses the following arguments: _first,_ He insinuates that it was not a strange... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT REJOICE, INASMUCH, &C.— _But, in proportion to your partaking the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exceeding great joy._ Christ will not always be concealed from the eyes of men: there is a time coming, when he will make himself conspicuous... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE SPIRIT OF GLORY AND OF GOD RESTETH UPON YOU:— The Venetian reading is, _The Spirit of honour, and of glory, and divine power, even the Spirit of God, resteth upon you._ The meaning seems to be, in general, "You shall have the Spirit of God in a very glorious manner, to support you, in propor... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT LET NONE OF YOU SUFFER AS A MURDERER, &C.— _Let not therefore any of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a malefactor; or as one who busily affects the government of other men,_ or the magistrates office. See ch. 1 Peter 2:20. &c. and the Apostolic Constitutions, b, 5 : 100: 2. Dr. Lardner... [ Continue Reading ]
LET HIM NOT BE ASHAMED;— There is no shame in suffering, unless it be for some crime: to be a _Christian,_ and to suffer for being so, is an honour. Grotius's remark on the words is this: "If a man was not to be ashamed to die with _Phocion,_ how much less to die for Christ!" It was sometimes deemed... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE TIME IS COME, &C.— 'Ο καιρος, the time; the signal _time_ prophesied of, Matthew 24:9; Matthew 24:21. Mark 13:12. By το κριμα, _judgment,_ seems here to be meant the particular distress which was to happen before Jerusalem should be utterly destroyed._—The Christians_ were to expect to feel... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF THE RIGHTEOUS, &C.— St. Peter having, in the preceding verse, compared the case of the Christians with that of the unbelieving Jews, he intimated that the approaching calamities were only to _begin at the house of God;_ but the _end,_ the weight of the storm, would fall upon the unbelieving_J... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD— That is "According to his permission, suffering as _Christians,_ not as _evil-doers:_ 1 Peter 4:15." The _soul,_ by a Hebraism, is often put for the whole man; but here it may be understood of the highest concerns, and of our future and everlasting welfare. See Psalms 3... [ Continue Reading ]