The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 86

shnll bo fully completed, all tho present frame of things in the world ancl in the Church itseli' shall be taken away, ancl appear no more" (Lc;ghton). 2. The C'hurch is a npiritual priesthood. As Christ is in a transcendent sense the Temple of Goel, and yet Christians individually and the Christian Church as a whole &~e temples also through his grace, so Christ himself is the one great High Priest; but though that high priesthood is his alone and incommunicable, yet his saints thank him because he has made the Christian Church to be a holy priesthood, and inclivi<lual Christians to be priests unto God. Under the ancient Law the priests only entered into the temple, the high priest alone into the holy of holies, and that bnt once a year; but now the veil which hid the holiest place is rent in twain, and all true Christians may enter as priests into the immediate presence of God, "having bo!clness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus" (Heh. x. 10). Through him (Eph. ii. 18) we have access to the Father, we come having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, having with us the blood of sprinkling, pleading the atoning power of the one great Sacrifice. For as the Lord Jesus is Temple and Priest, so is he also the one true Sacrifice. Yet we, if we are priests, must have something to offer : "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?" St. Peter tells us that our offerings must be spiritual sacrifices. Such sacrifices are the prayers of the saints. " Let my prayer be set forth before 1hee as the incense ; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Ps. cxli. 2). These prayers are presented before the throne in "golden vials full of odours" in the sacred imagery of the Revelation (v. 8). Prayer is a sacrifice when it issues from the heart, when its sweet odour is wafted upwards with the fire of holy love. And praise is a. sacrifice: "Offer unto God thanksgiving;" "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me" (Ps. I. 14, 23); but to be a sacrifice it must be that sweet and holy melody which the thankful heart aingeth unto the Lord. Almsgiving, too, is a sacrifice (Heb. xiii. 16), when the Chris- tian offers willingly, out of a thankful heart, seeking not the praise of men, but only the glory of God. God accepts our poor gifts when they are brought to him in faith, as the Lord Jesus Christ accepted the two mites of the poor widow. But the chief 1,acrifice that we can offer is the sacrifice of ourselves. "My son, give me thy heart," is the Lord's requirement. If we give him that, we give him all: it is a poor gift, worthless in itself, but yet precious in his sight because he first loved us, made more precious still by the precious blood of Christ which was shed that these hearts of ours might be cleansed and purifierl for a holy offering. It is all he asks, and all we have to give; if we give it, we shall be all the richer, for he giveth in return the unspeak- able Gift-the gift of himself, to abide for ever in the heart that is given to hiDL "We offer and present unto thee, 0 Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto thee." We offer these our offerings through Jesus Christ, (Heb. xiii. 15), pleading his merits, his atonement; and through him they are acceptable unto God. In themselves they are very mean and imperfect; not without blemish, as an offering should be; defiled with lingering taints of selfishness and earthliness; but if they are offered through him, in the faith of him, they are acceptable. For the 11riests of the spiritual temple are also living stones in that temple, incorporated into the mystical body of Christ, and thus their spiritual sacrifices are consecrated by his one prevailing Sacrifice, and through that Sacrifice are acceptable unto God. 3. What Ghrist is to true Christians. The apostle confirms his teaching by an appeal to the prophets: "It is coniained in the Scriptures," he says. Search the Scriptures; they testify of Christ; we shall find treasures there, if only we search. The evangelical prophet testified of Christ long before he came in the flesh; he spoke of him as t.he chief Corner-stone; he speake in the Name of God, "'l'hus saith the Lord God, Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation e. Stone, a tried Stone, e. precious Corner-stone, a sure Foundation." God the Father is the Master-builder; it was he who laid the Corner- stone: "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyos." It is laid in Zion, in the Church, to be its one Foundation, the Rock on which it is built, "'i.i.ich gives it strength and solidity; its chief Uorner-stone, which gives it unity, without which it would fall to pieces. And that chief Corner-stone is elect, chosen of God from all eternity, chosen in the eternal purpose of God the Father to be the Foundation of the Church. And it is precious exceedingly, held in high honour of God, worthy of his love, for it is faultless in beauty and in strength-a polished Corner-stone without flaw and without blemish. He that restoth on that Coroer-stone, built up in faith upon it,  so TIIE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. i:cn. II, 1-25,