1 Pet. i. 1.5. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
THE truths of God deserve our attention on ac- count of their own excellence ; but they are prin- cipally to be valued for the effects they produce on our lives. The Apostles never rest satisfied with stating a mere system of doctrines, they invariably proceed to make a practical application of them to the soul. St. Peter had briefly opened the blessed state of true believers. He had represented them as begotten to a glorious inheritance, of which their joy in Christ was an earnest, and to which, through their present trials, they would be advanced. He then urged the near approach of that glory, as a reason for exerting themselves more diligently in their Chris- tian calling — " Wherefore" &c.
The words of the text lead us to consider,
I. The great object of a Christian's pursuit —
There are in Scripture many beautiful descriptions of heaven, but none more interesting than that con- tained in the words before us.
The day of judgment is here called " the revelation of Jesus Christ" —
[Jesus Christ was revealed in the first promise that was made to mana. He was also exhibited in the sacrifices which Abel offered13. In successive ages he was made known in clearer prophecies c, and typified by various ordinances of the Jewish ritual d. In process of time he was personally " mani- fested in human flesh," and shewed himself to be the Son of God by most irrefragable proofs0. In the preaching of his
a Gen. iii. 15. b Heb. xi. 4. and xii. 24.
c Gen. xxii. 18. and Isai. liii. 4, 5, 11. d Compare Exod. xii. 5. with 1 Pet. i. 19. 0 Acts ii. 22. Rom. i. 1.