The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 71

Yers. 13-25.-The pilgrim-life. I. PREPAREDNESS, 1. Unity of the energies, "\"l\'hcrefore ~rding up the loins of your mind." The apostle hns been dwelling on tho bright future before the people of God. \Ve are pilgrims on our way to our inheritance. Jt hecom(ll,l us therefore to gird up the loins of our mind. It belongs to the richness of onr endowment that there are strong forces in our nature. But these are nature.Hy in n state of dispf'l'sion. \Ve are like travellers with loose flowina robes which form an impediment in walking. We need to gird up the loins of onr ~ind-to gather up our ~catt.ered energies, to unite them in a common bond for t.ho accomplishment of e. com- mon end. For this there is needed a vigour of will which is by no means common. There is a Chinese proverb which says, ''Most men have passions, strong men he.ve wills." Vve are not to allow ourselves to be swayed by alternate passions, which counteract one another and involve loss of force. We need all the viaour we can command for sustaining us in the accomplishment of our arduous journey~in the execution of our difficult plan. It has been pointed out that even for success in an evil undertaking there is needed an harmonious character, or agreement of the powers. And men have sometimes failed in their evil schemes just because they have not been bad enough; there has been some better feeling of their nature drawing them back (Macbeth). For all success we must be able to say with Paul, "This one thing I do." It is to be observed that the language here comes with a special appropriateness from Peter, to whom were spoken the words of destiny, "When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou sbalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." 2. Sobriety. "Be sober." "Peter commands," says Calvin, "not merely moderation in eating and drinking, but spiritual sobriety rather, when we shut in all our senses, that they do not intoxicate themselves with the unlawful things of this world." The sobriety here enjoined bas a natural association with wakefulness, being a condition of wakefulness. Hence Paul says, "Let us watch and be sober." As thus associated with wakefulness, it naturally follows on girding up the loins. Hence the Master says, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning." We are not to allow the pleasures or the wor!d to bring us into a state of unnatural excitement or of stupor; but we are so to sober ourselves with all sobering thought (such as the vanity of worldly pleasure, the shortness of time) as that with a clear head we can discern the way we a.re taking, and the end to which it leads. 3. Hope. ".And set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Stress is laid in this verse on the exercise of hope. There are various degrees in which it may exist. We are to aim at exercising it perfectly. One aspect of the perfectness is brought out in the old translation, "Hope to the end." To be thus enduring it must be vigorous, con- quering. The ground of hope on our part is grace on the part of God. Grace bas already been brought unto us in our election (ver. 1); it is to be signally brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. What we hope for from grace is our inheritance. \Vhen Christ is to be glorified then are we also to be enriched from grace. In order that our hope may be perfect or abundant (Rom. xv. 13), we must not only realize the inheritance as well merited for us, but must form some distinct conception of its nature. This is what Paul teaches when he thus prays for bis Ephesian converts, "'!'hat the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of !(lory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of Ms inhe- ritance in tlie saints." When gathering up our energies, and sobered against the blandishments of the world, we are also sustained by hope, we are prepared for the iournev of life. II. FASHION. 1. Not after self. "As children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former Jw;ts in the time of your ignoran_ce." . The a~ostle proceeds on our being chil,lren of obedience (ver. 2). We are naturalized lll obedience, so that we have it as our father. The dignity of our nature lies in this, that we are character- making. We have the power of fashioning ourselves, leaving our own mark on our nature -a power not possessed by the lower creature_s. We have not the power of adding any new principle or eradicating any that there 1s; for we do not stand to our nature as creators• but we can lead to such a change in ourselves as amounts to a second nature. ,~E cbi1'lren. of obedience, we are not to fashion ourselves as we please '!'here i~ a neg., (Ill, 1. 1-25.] THE Fms·r EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 65