And at the ea.me time, it is importe.nt to observe and to avoid and strive against thoso hindrances to growth which in great variety beset us on every side, aud by wbich very many have been injured, if not ruined. IV. THE EXTENT AND LIMIT OF CHRISTIAN GROWTH. With regard to this world, such progress is intended to be lifelong. If growth be constant, it cannot matter to us at what precise stage of advance the earthly development comes to a close. Let death come when it may to the Christian who is making progress in Divine grace and knowledge, it cannot come inopportunely. "It is not growing, like a tree, In bulk, doth make man better be, Or standing long a.n oa.k, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere; A lily of a day Is fairer far in May, Although it fall and die that night- It was the plant e.nd flower of light. In sma.11 proportions we just beauties see, And in short measures life may perfect be.'' Beyond this life, who can set a limit to such growth as is here inculcated? The scope is boundless and the opportunity is infinite.-J. R. T. Vers. 1-9.-The Divine commandment. A careful study or this passage is necessary to a clear understanding of the apostle's meaning, and of the place of this urgent exhor- tation in his argument. For such a study it may be well to gather up his teaching here round three points. I. THE "WORD" OR "COMMANDMENT" HERE INTF.NDED. Concerning such we ask: 1. By whom is it proclaimed? (1) "Spoken before by the holy prophets;" i.e. perhaps chiefly, though not solely, of the Old Testament. Forth-tellers as well as fore-tellers. (2) "Your apostles;" i.e. those that brought you the gospel. (3) '"l'he Lord and Saviour." He is the Source; the prophets and apostles are but the channel. 2. How is it to be received? (1) "Stir up your mind;" active intelligence. (2) "Sincere•· mind; unprejudiced intelligence. (3) By way of "remembrance;" intelli!;ence that recalls what has been revealed. Not a novelty, not a discovery. 3. What is it? The theme of both Epistles-Christ's coming. II. THE OBJECTION OF MEN TO Tms "WORD" AND "COMMANDMENT." 1. What are the men who object? "Mockers with mockery." Not the troubled truth-seeker. 2. What is the spirit in which they object? "Walking after their own lusts." Strong unbridled desire is the explanation of their scornful unbelief. 3. What is the argument of this objection? "Where is the promise of his coming?" Not, where written? but, what has come of it? Since the fathers fell asleep it seems to lie like a dead letter. III. 'l'HE THREEFOLD ANSWER TO THIS OBJECTION. 1. It arises from wilful ignorance of history. 'l'here is the" Flood "-probably one among many, gut the chief-of which tradition, science, the Bible, have much to say. And that Flood, and all coming destruction, is to be traced, not to a fortuitous concourse of atoms, but to "the \Vord of God." 2. It arises from fixing time as a condition of God's ways, as it is of man's. "One day," etc. Look at "the dial of the ages, not the horologe of time." 3. It arises from misreading the apparent tardiness of God. He is slow, but never late. What seems to us delay ie not an interval of Divine neglect, but a period of Divine mercy, granting au opportunity for human" repentance."-U. R. T.
Vera. 10-13.-Destiny and duty. This passage is woven to the preceding by a link so clear and close that there is no need for indicating it. But we proceed to notice- I. 'f1m CE!tTAmTY AND YET THI': UNCERTAINTY OF THE PASSING AWAY OF THE PI:ESENT SYSTEM OF TIIINGS. 1. What will •• pas.s away"? " Heavens;" i.e. firma- ment. "Elements ; " not the 1'01ccs we usually so name, because they include " fire," which is here the revolutionary force; but, according to Farrar and others, "the orbs of heaven." 2. How shall they "pass e.way"? "Dissolved," not destroyed. Fresh forlllB, Whether this be literal, as with. the Flood, or wider and figurative, so as to THF. SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PE'l'ER. [en. 111. 1-18.
include inst(tations, empir~s, and all that "the world" is to us, is an open question. 3. 'l'he certainty of all pa.ssmg away, The fact is certain. 4. The uncertainty. 'l'he date is uncertain. "As a thief;" not a.s to wrongfulness, but unexpectedness. "At such an hour as ye think not" is the true answer to all chronoloo·ical 0 theories about "the end." II. 'THE GLORY OF THE FUTURE AFTER TlIAT STUPENDOUS EVENT lIAS lIAPPENRD, It is not the catastror,he, or climax, but the prologue and dawn. It leads not to anuihila- tion, but restoration and purification. 1. A new system of things. "New heavens and new earth." Fresh, in contrast to worn out. Scars and wounds all gone. 2. The true ]Jrinciple dominant in the new system-" righteousness." Probably not more material grandeur or lo,eliness than now, but pervaded with rectitude-man right with God n:ian right with man, _man right with himself. 3. 'l'he permanence of this pervasiv; righteousness. Wherem "dwelleth." Not, as now and here, often an alien, frequently a stranger, at best a visitor; but the new system of things will be its home. 'fhat is (1) its fitting, (2) its happy, (3) its pei-manent abode. 4. All this rests on a IJivine "promise." This indicates (1) God's pity; (2) God's prescience; (3) God's power. The tones of this promise are manifold and harmonious, from Jonah down to Peter.-U. R. T.