here; it means "to twist with a windlass," Ver. 18.-But grow in grace, and in the and so "to strain, to torture, to distort." As knowledge of our Lord e.nd Saviour Jeene they do e.lso the other Scriptures. This pas- Christ. Growth is necessary for steadfast- sage is of the gMitest interest,asshowing that ncBs: we cannot perSP.vcre unloss we con- some of St. Poul's Epistles had by this time tinually advance in faith (comp. I Pet. i. taken their place in the eetiarnte of Christian~ 5-7: ii. 2). Srimc, as Alford, take the by the side of the sacred books of tbo Olcl genitirn with ''grace" as well as with Testament, and were regarded as Holy Scrip- "knowledge;" but this connection forces us ture. By "the other Scriptures" St. Peter to regard it first as subjective, then as ob- means the Old Testament, and also, perhaps, jective-the grace which Christ gives, and some of the earlier writings of the New, as the knowledge of which he is the Object- the first three Gospels and the Epistle of St. e.nd so seems somewhat forced. St Peter James. St. Paul, in 1 Tim. v. 18, quotes a insists on the knowledge of Christ aa es- passage which seems to come from Luke x. sential for growth in grace, at the begin- 7 a.a Scripture (comp. 1 Pet. i. 12). Unto ning, as at the end, of this Epistle. To him their own destruction; literally, their own be glory both now and for ever. Amen. We destruction of them~elves. Th,~ use of both notice the doxology addresscu to Christ ; it adjective e.nd pronoun intensifies the mean- reminds us of the hymn which Pliny, in his ing (comp.eh. ii. 1, 12). famous letter to Trajan, says the Christians Ver. 17.-Ye therefore, beloved, seeing of Bithynia. (one of the provinces mentioneu that ye know these things before. The pro- in 1 Pet. i. 1) were wont to address to Christ noun "ye" is emphe.tio; others have gone as to God. To him be (or is) the glory-all astray; "continue ye faithful." The con- the glory which belongs to God, which we atruction is participial, and there is no ex- ascribe to him. "For ever" is, literally, pressed objeot; literally, " knowing before,'' "for the day of the age or of eternity (,is i.e. that false teachers will arise. Beware 71µ,pa.11 a.lidvos )." This remarkable expre.sion lest ye also, being led away with the error is found only here, and is variously inter- of the wioked, fall from your own steadfast- preted. Bengel explains it a.a, "dies sine ness; rather, as in the Revised Version, lest, nocte, merus et perpetuus;" Hnther as, being carried away . , , ye fall. It is in- " the day on which eternity begins as con- teresting to notice that the word rendered trosted with time, bnt which day is likewise "led or carried away" is used by St. Paul, all eternity itself." Fronmiiller quotes St. in Gal, ii. 13, of St. Bamabas, who, along Augustine: "It is only one day, but an with St. Peter himself, was then "carried everlasting day, without yesterday to pre- away" with the dissimulation of the Juda- cede it, and without to-morrow to follow it; izers. The word rendered "wicked," rather not brought forth by the natural sun, which "lawless," is used elsewhere in the New shall exist no more, but by Christ, the Sun Testament only in eh. ii. 7. The word for of Righteousnesa." "steadfastness "(uT71p,-yµos) occurs only here.
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-10.-The certainty of the Lord's coming, I. CONFUTATION OF SCOFFERS. 1. St. Peter's purpose in writing. He took a deep interest in the spiritual welfare of the Christians of Asia. Minor; he felt a :i;reat affection for them; he calls them "beloved" four times in this chapter. We do not know whether he bad ever seen them face to face. It may be that Silve.nus had made known to him their circum- stances, their dangers, their temptations. So he writes to them. In the First Epistle he comforts them in the presence of great persecution ; in the second he warns them acrainst the seductions of false teachers. He is an example to Christian ministers of diligence, of affectionate care for souls. H_e writes : (1) To ~ti: up his r~ader? .. Their minds, he says, were pure. They were smgle-hearted Chnstmns; their religion was genuine, sincere. Nevertheless, it was well to stir them up. We o.11 need to be aroused from time to time. We live on in the same way day after de.y; the daily prayers, tho daily life, are ordered according to rule; there is danger of becoming lnkewarm, formal of acting from habit rather than from the conscious desire of pleasing God. Hence' the need of exhortation. We ask God to "stir up the wills of his faithful people." It is h~ only who, by the power of his Spiri~ can really ar?usa us; but he uses men as his rnstrumeuts. Ho used the agency of .:it. Peter to stir up the mmds of the Asiatic Christians. (2) To remind them of the words of the prophets and apostles. He ha.cl mgcd the study of prophecy ia the first chapter of this Epistle; 72 'l'HE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. [on. m. 1-18.