W0rd. The use of different prepnsitions, ire him we both have access in one Spirit to and ~,cl., apparently implies a dift'erenee be- the Father" (Eph. ii. 18). It is through the twC'en the sN·d and the Word. In the oon- Lord Jesus Obrist that we receive the grace vt>r~otion with Nicodemus the Lord bad of the new birth. The words, "which liveth eaid, "Exeept a man be horn of wAter 11nd and abideth," may be connected with the of the Spirit. he <>.annot enter into the ki11g- Divine N11me: "God, who liveth aud d0m of God." And he continues, •· That ahideth; " or, as in our version with " the which is born of the flesh [ ,,, .,-;;, 11ap1<os, Word." The last connection ~eems most which seems to l'orrespond with the '" suitable here (comp. ver. 25, u'l'he Word cnropiis ,r,6apTot> of St. PeterJ is flesh; 11nd of the Lord e.bideth for ever;" and Heb. iv. that which is born or the Spirit is spirit;•• 12, "The Word of God is quick aud power- where the Greek words, .,-1, -yry•W11µ•vov lrc ful "). The most anoient ma.uuscripts omit -roii Ilv•vµa.,.os, "that whioh is begotten of the the words, "for ever." Spirit,'' correspond very nearly with ava-y,-y•v- Ver. 24.-P'or all :8esh is as grass, and all v71µ,,.o, i1< rnropiis iiq,6ap-rov, "those who arc the glory of man as the :Bower of grass. The h<'i:cotten again of inoorruptible seed." Then grass withereth, and the flower thereof the incorruptible seed is the Holy Spirit of fa.lleth away, St. Peter quotes Isa. :d. God. the Source of all spiritual life; it is the 6-8, in illustration of his assertion that Spirit that "beareth witness with our spirit the Word of God abideth for ever. The that we a.re the children of God ; " " To be quotation is from the Septuagint. St. spiritually minded is life." Comp. 1 John Peter follows that version in omitting part iiL 9, " Whosoever is born of God ( 6 -yry•v- of ver. 7; but he slightly varies the words, vrJµ.•vor J,, .,-ov @•ov) doth not commit sin: WJ·iting (according to the most ancient for his seed (,nrlpµa) abideth in him: and manuscripts), '' 1111 the glory thereof," in- he cannot sin because he is born of God"). stead of "all the glory of mn.n ; " and in There is a different explanation of this last the next verse, "the Word of the Lord," pe.sAA~e: •• God's seed, that is, his children, ill9tee.d of " the Word of our God." The abide in him." But on the whole, it seems first variation shows an e.cqm1intance with to be parallel with this verse, and to tee.eh the original Hebrew. St. James refers to the sawe doctrine, that the :first gift of tho the same passage from Isaiah in J as. i. Spirit is the germ of spiritual life, and that 10, 11. that precious germ, abiding in the true Ver. 25.-But the Word of the Lord en- children of God. lives and energizes "till we dnreth for ever. And this is the Word whioh come . . . unto a perfect man, unto the by the gospel is preached unto you, In measure of the stature of the fulness of this verse, both in the quotation and in the Christ " (Eph. iv. 13). But if the Holy apostlo's comment, the Greek equivalent for Spirit of God is, in the deepest sense, the "word" is not ll.o-yos, as in ver. 23, but {,i;µ.a. Seed of the new birth, the Word is the jp- 'Pi;µa is "an utterance, the word uttered," strument. God's elect a.re begotten again more concrete than ll.o-yos; yet in some pas- through the Word, the Word prea.c hed, heard, sages, as Eph. vi. 18; Heb. vi. 4 and xi. 3, read. pronounced in holy baptism. The it seems to be used as equivalent to 11.6-yos, Word preached by St. Peter on the great and the variation here may possibly be Day of Pentecost was the means by whicli owing to the quotation. Compare the tran· tliree thousand souls were led to be be.ptized sition from 11.&,,os to ~ijµ.a in St. Pater's in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remis- speech recorded in Acts x. 36, 37. The sion of sins, and to receive the gift of Revised Version renders the last half of the the Holy Ghost (comp. Je.s. i 18, "Of his verse, And thiB is the Word of good tiding, own will bege.t he ns with the Woi:d.J>f which was preached 'llnto you; literally, This truth"). Again, th~-i¥wd p1cachmf daices is the Word which was preached as good ~ e r from the persona.I Word, from him tiding&. Here St. Peter recognizes the who is the Word of God. "All -thiogs were gospel which had been preached in Asio. made through him" (John i. 3; Heh. i. 2); Minor o.s the Word ot' the Lord which and as the first creation was throngh him, e.bideth for ever. St. Paul and his com- so is the new creation. He is " the Begin- panions were the missionaries from whom ning of the creation of God" (Rev. iii. 14); those provinces had heard the Word of God. for he is our Life, the life hidden in the St. Peter gives his formal testimony to the heart. He is the Word of life: "He that bath teaching of St. Paul, as he had 11lready the Son hath life" (1 John v. 12); "Through done at Jerusalem (Gal. ii. 1-9).
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1, 2.-7'ie address. L &r. PETER'B DESCRIPTION OF HIMSELF. 1. His name. WLen bis brother Andrew brought him first to Jesus, the Lord who calleth hia own oa. L 1-26.) THE FIRS'r EPIB'fLE GENERAL OF PETER. 13