The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Peter — Section 30

In the Lord. 2. Where the day shines is a.lso matter of great interest. To St. Peter the glory of noontide splendour was still in the future. Certain it is that the kin"dom of Christ, like th~ path of the just," shineth more and more unto the perfect day." What we have hitherto seen has been the beauty and the promise of the morning. 'l'he full noontide splendo_ur has yet to be revealed. But in indulging bright hopes for the world, for the destmy of our redeemed and regenerated humanity, let us not lose sight of the internal, the spiritual, the personal experience of enlightenment. St. Pater's hope was that "in your hearts" this day should dawn, and this day-star arise. We have to look not only without, but within. If the heart be dark as a cavern secluded in forest depths from every ray of the sun in heaven, of what avail for us is it that the world is bathed in spiritual lustre? APPLIOATION. 1. Take heed to the lamp of prophecy, which does not cease to shine, and which is needed by every traveller through the night of time, to dirrct his feet into the paths of safety, wisdom, and peace. 2. Hail the promise of the morning, and look. forward to the spiritual and perfect day. Of times and seasons we know but little; but this we know-" The Lord is at hand;" "The morning cometh." "Lift up, then, your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh."-J. R. T. Ver. 21.;__God}s voice in the B{ble. The reference here is, of course, to Old Testament Scripture; but there is. no reason for confining this assertion to any portion of Holy Writ. The Bible, as a whole, is a Divine utterance-Divine in its p~rpose, and Divine in its authority. A spiritual impulse moved the writers, and their speech accordingly was in reality the voice of God. This Divinity of meaning is discernible in the aim of the Scriptures. I.- THE BmLE TEACHES MAN WHAT BE IS. 1. Everywhere in Scripture man is represented as a moral, spiritual, and accountable being. Other literature, properly enough, deals with man under other aspects of his nature-represents him as suscep- tible of emotions incidental to human relationships, as grief and joy, fear and hope; as capable of exertion, of self-denial, with a view to obtaining earthly objects. But every. careful and discerning reader of Scripture feels that in every book of the volume human nature is depicted as moral, as affected, on the one band, by temptation to n lower life, and, on the other hand, by stimulus and encouragement to a higher life; as capable of obedience and holiness, or of transgression and ungo<liiness. Never is man represented by the inspired writers as a mere animal, as a sentient nature moved, like the brutes, only by instinct and appetite. On the contrary, he is represented as akin to God, as dependent upon God, as responsible to God. 2. Everywhere in Scripture man is convicted of being sinful and guilty in character and habit. Such a state is, indeed, a violation of his original and proper nature; but the fact of human sinful- ness cannot be concealed or palliated without injustice and flattery. It is this fact which accounts for very much of the contents of the sacred volume. This is the explanation of the Law, which is not for the righteous, but for sinners; and of the ceremonies and sacrifices of the old covenant, which symbolically set forth the impurity and depravity of man's heart and life. In this light we must read the history of the Hebrew nation, which occupies so large a part of the Old Testament. It is a record of Israel's faults, defections, and apostasy; and it is a record also of God's displeasure with sin, embodied in acts of chastisement, and especially in the afflictions which repeatedly befell the nation as a whole. Here, too, is the explanation of the fact that Scripture contains so many biographies of bad men, and of good men who have been tempted and have fallen into sin. The intention is to exhibit human frailties and errors, and to impress upon the mind of every reader the undeniable power and curse of sin. It would appear thnt the same purpose is subserved by the descriptions of the diseased nnd the demoniacs, which nbound in the narratives of the evangelists. II. THE BIDLE TEACHES MAN WHO Gon 1s. The profound need nnd the pressing urgency and importance of such knowledge must bo admitted by all, and are felt by those whose spiritual instincts are aroused to activity. And in nothing is the Bible more manifestly its own witness and evidence than in its incompnrnblc nml sublime revelntion of God. 1. In Scripture the Personality of the living God pervades every book. Not only is there no pantheism and no polytheism; there is a pure and impressive theism (hroughont tho sacred volume. Even those who deny to the Bible the character of 11  TllE SECOND EPISTLE GENER.AL OF PETER. [o:H. 1.1-21.