The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 87

shall 1wt be put to shame. "For God bath laid this precious Stone in Zion for this very purpo~e that weary souls may rest upon it" (Leighton): and he that so resteth need not make haste; he need not run hit.her and thither for help, for his soul is established liis mind is stayed upon God. Nothing can shake him from that sure Foun<lation 1 whil; he rests on it in faith, "neither death, nor life, ... nor things present, nor thi ngs to come, • • • shall be able to separate us from thel love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." " Such honour have all his saints," 'l'his honour is for them that believe• they have the honour, high above all other honour, of indissoluble union with Christ: they rest on him, they are his and be is theirs: "My beloved is mine, and I am his.'~ They know the exceeding preciousness of that living Stone, for they feel its stron., support beneath them; its preciousness is for them; for their sakes, for their salvation° 9~d la_id that el~ct, that precious Stone in_ Zion. How precious faith is (2 Pet. i. I) j 1t 1s faith that bmds us firmly to that precious Corner-stone. 4. What he is to the dis- obedient; or to such as disbelieve (Revised Version); for, as Leiabton says unbelief itself is " the grand disobedience;" "This is the work of God, that ye believ~ on him whom he bath sent" (John vi. 29). Unbelief lies at the root of all disobedience; all disobedience flows from it; he cannot be disobedient who realizes by faith the power the love, the presence, of God. The builders were disobedient; the priests and scrib~ disallowed the stones which God had chosen. So,alas ! now too often the great men of the world, the builders of its policy," leave out Christ in their building;" and not only they, but sometimes "the pretended builders of the Church of God, though they use the name of Christ, and serve their turn with that, yet reject himself, and oppose the power of his spiritual kingdom. There may be wit and learning, and much knowledge of the Scriptures amongst those that are haters of the Lord Christ and of the power of godliness,and corrupters of the worship of God. It is the spirit of humility and obedience and saving faith that teaches men to esteem Christ, and to build upon him" (Leighton). But the unbelief and disobedience of men cannot turn aside the purpose of God; the living Stone that was once disallowed is become the Head of the corner. He is exalted high above all the power of the enemy. "The kings of the earth may set themselves, '.il.nd the rulers may take counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed. . . . But he that sittetb in the heavens shall laugh, . . . he shall speak unto them in his wrath, . . . Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion." He is the Head af the corner now," Head over all things to his Church." "He must reign till be bath put all enemies under his feet;" then shall the King sit upon the throne of his glory, a.nd they who have rejected him shall to their confusion see him raised "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." But he is to the disobedient not only the Head of the corner to their confusion, but also a Stone of stumbling and e. Rock of offence to their destruction. It is no light thing to reject the Son of God, to set the cross at nought, to despise the love of him who died upon the cross for us. Such 1inners against their own souls must fall. He tasted death for every man; and to every man the death of the Son of God is full of momentous results-everlasting life to the believer, but to the wilful and impenitent sinner what can it be save utter death? The livina Stone is the Foundation, the Head of the comer; "this is the Lord's doing," and who ~an stand against the Lord? The Stone becomes a Stumbling-block to the dis- obedient; they fall upon it. One day it must fall on them, as in the vision of Nebu- chadnezzar it fell on the great image which represented all the empires of the world. " "\V'hosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." For this is the Lord's appointment. 'l'hat Stone must becom"' a great mountain and fill the whole earth; and resistance to the decree of the Most; High can only end in ruin and destruction; those who reject the living Stone must in thf'I end be crushed beneath it. 5. What true Christians are fo Ohrist. (1) 'l'bey. are" e. chosen generation," an elect race. As the Israelites were one race, descended from one ancestor, so Christiam, in virtue of their new birth, are the children of the heavenly Father, a regenerate race. And they are chosen, the elect people of God, chosen in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world; a high end sacred dignity. (2) "A royal priesthood." Not only a priesthood, as St. Peter had said in ver. 5, but a royol priesthood. Hoyal, because the priests of the spiritunl temple serve the King of kings; tl,ey are bis attcudants; they belong to "the hou~ebold of God,"-thc royal household oH, 11, 1-25.] THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 81