The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 90

thnt obedience is for bis sake; therefore it cannot extend to unlawfnl commands. St. Peter himself hnd once said to the high priest, "We ought t0 obey God ratl,er than man" (Acts v. 29 ; comp. also Acts iv. 19); and the time was comina when brn.ve Cbristi:iu men and women woulcl have to choos<J between renouncing Chri~ and the death of mar- tyrdom. 'L'he disobedience would be "for the Lord's snke." The higher duty wouhl overrule the lower. 'l'o "fear God and to keep his commandments i~ tlie w-hole duty of man;" this highest rule will guide the Christian under ordinary circumstances to obey human law and government, sometimes under exceptional circumstances to obey God rather than man. As a rule, Christians must be subject to the higher powers. lodee,l, they are free; Christ bath made them free from the yoke of bondage. But they are the servants of God; his will should be the law of their lives; and his will is that Christian liberty should be orderly and sober. The soul is free from the bondar,e of sin; the outward life should be regulated by obedience to authority and law; and° that for the glory of God, that the well-ordered lives of Christian people may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. 3. Four rules for the guidance of Christians in social life. (1) "Honour all men." The apostle has just enjoined a dutiful submission to kings and magistrates. He extends his precept; all men are to be treated with honour. St. Paul had said, "Render therefore to all their dues; . . . honour to whom honour is d,1e" (Rom. xiii. 7). Though we owe not the same measure of honour to every one, yet in some sense honour is due to all men; for all men are God's creatures, maJe originally in the likeness of God. 'l'be Jews, Leighton reminds us, would not tread on any cba11('e piece of paper, lest, they said, the name of God might be written on it. So the Chris- tian may not despise any one, however base in his outward condition, in budy, or in mind, or even however much fallen from God and goodness. The name of God may be written on that soul; low in all earthly things, it m3,y be high in grace; the Lord Jc~u3 died for that poor fallen soul; it may be restored and won back and forgiven like the sinful woman who washed the Lord's feet with her tear;, and wiped them with the hair of her head. Therefore the Christian must treat all men with consideration aud respect; scorn and contempt are utterly out of place in the disciples of the lowly Saviour. (2) "Love the brotherhood." Christians are not only brethren, but a brotherhood, one body in Christ; they are knit together by the one Spirit into one communion and fellowship; they must regard one another with fraternal affection. The nearer they draw to Christ, who loved them and gave himself for them, the more fully will they learn of him ,his high and holy lesson of Christian love. (3) "f!'ear God," '!'his great principle must guide the Christian in all the relations of life. "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom." He who has the fear of God before his eyes will do his duty towards his neighbour; for to fear and to obey God, the preacher says, is "the whole of man" (Eccles. xii. 13)-it covers the whole sphere of his life and conduct. Other rules are subordinate to this central rule, ,ve must honour all men, because all men are the creatures of God; we must honour most those in whom the image of God is best reflected. We must love the brotherhood, but so that we love God first above all. ,ve must honour tbe king, beca:iso all power is of God. (4) "Honour the king." That king was Nero. It was baru to honour such a one, a monster stained with every infamy. But Christians were to see iu him the representative of law and order, o.nd they were to respect his authority while they could not bnt loathe his crimes. LF.ssoNs. 1. Let us always remember that we are strangers here, nnd that the citizens of the heavenly country should be "not of the world." l!. '!'he Christian must ever strive to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things, seeking always the g1ory of God. 3. He must yield a. loyal obedience to human bw for the Lo:d.'s sake. 4. 'l'he law of liberty is not licence; Christian freedom is the service of God. Vars. 18-25.-Special address to servants. I. THEIR DUTIES. 1. Submission to tl1eir masters. Religion touches every condition of lile; none is left out. And nooe may muke the circumstaoces of their life an excuse for neglecting religion. God set them where they are; their station, their circumstances, are such as be was pleased to appoint. He "will havo all men to be saved ; " therefore we may be sure all men may be saved, whatever may be their outward circumstances. It is for them to do their dnt,y to God and to man in that station to which God has been pleased to call them. '!'here are mriny comrcnsritions in lifo; riches have their cares; high ra:-ik has its  THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. [oH, n. l-2S. ---------------------------------- responsibilities. Men must not fret and chafe against the toils and privations of their lot; tl1ey must do their duty in it, and they will find peace and inward satisfaction. "Bretbr,·n," says St. Paul, speaking to slaves (1 Cor. vii. 24), "let every man, wherein he is calleJ, therein abide with God." God has a messaa-e for servants. Their lot was wry hard under the stern rule of slavery, when even m~n of wide views like .Aristotle r~garded slaves as "living tools." But Christian slaves were to take comfort; they were the Lord's freedmen (1 Cor. vii. 22); they were, equally with the highest in rank, !i,ing st-0nes in the Lord's spiritual temple; they might gain for themselves a hio-h place there by the quiet, faithful discharge of the humblest duties. Then let them ser~o their masters with all respect and reverence; and that, not simply out of gratitude, ii they happened to barn kind and indulgent masters, but out of submission to the holy will of God, whatever might be the character of those under whom they were placed. There is a lesson here for all who occupy subordinate positions of any sort-let them pay proper reverence and obedience to their superiors. It is their duty, not only to those superiors, but to God. 2. The motive of that submission. Consciousness of God. 'l'his high motive dignifies the humblest position in life, and makes the respect and submission which Christian servants yield to their masters, or Christians in any condition to their superiors, a beautiful and holy thing. They recognize the great truth of the presence of God; they try to live in the habitual consciousness of that presence; they try to think of God all the day long, in all the little details of their daily occupations, and to perform each duty, great or small, a.s unto the Lord. Thus Christians in the humblest positions may "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things" (Titus ii. 10). 'l'hese words of St. Paul were spoken of Christian slaves. Slaves might adorn the Church of God, and bring honour to Christ. Through the grace of God, the lllst are often first, the lowest in this world highest in the kingdom of heaven. 3. The reward of that submission. It is thank worthy; it is acceptable with God. The master might be much beneath his slave; the superior may be much beneath his official inferiors iu all that constitutes true greatness; it has often been so, it must be so sometimes still. The Christian, in what- llOCVer state he is, must be content; if he has to suffer _wrong, injustice, cruelty, he must take it patiently. To submit to deserved punishment, to own our fault, and to accept the consequence, is hard to our proud, selfish nature; yet it is but a plain duty; it merits no praise. But when Christians submit to undeserved suffering; when in the ancient times they endured stripes and the prison and the death of martyrdom; when now Christian men, or women, or children endure persecution, sometimes very hard to bear, from those in various ways above them, or, it may be, from fellow-servants or school-fellows ;-when they take it patiently in the consciousness of God's presence, this is the work of God's grace ; this is lovely in the sight of God; and the Scripturu saith in God's great condescension, this is thank worthy with God. IL 'l'HE GREAT EXAMPLE. 1. Christians are called to imitate Ghrist. Christians are called to suffering; the cross is the badge of their profession; without the cross they cannot be disciples of the crucified Lord. '!'his was the meaning of your calling, St. Peti,r says; you knew it when you became Christians; you must not forget it in tho hour of t1 ial. Christ suffered for you, yes, for you slaves; he left behind him, when he ascended into heaven, an example for you to imitate, a sketch for you to fill up in detail. Try by the grace of God the Holy Spirit to renew the likeness of God in your hearts; look to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Model; copy one by one the features of that Divine loveliness; fill up the portrait, little by little, touch by touch, looking with .fixed attention on the great Original. And, to change the figure, follow him; he goeth before you. Climb the steep ascent of heaven, stepping in the very footprints of the Divine Guide. He will lead you safe. But there is only one way-the way which he trod himself, tlie royal way of the most holy cross. 2. The innocence if Ohriat. He did not sin, yet he suffered. We have sinned, yet we murmur under our chastisements. Wo fret and complain all the louder, if we think that our aillictions are not the direct result of sin; all the more if we think tLat they are wrongfully inflicted. We fancy that there aro none so hardly dealt with, none so unjustly trcated; we magnify our distress; we will 11ot be comforted; we refuse to see any alleviation, any ray of light, any evidences of mercy. But we should think of our sins, our unworthiness, our need of chastisement r.. r our profit in holiness. Above all, we should think of the innocent Saviour. "Ho .::,1 uo f.in, neither wa.s guile found in his mouth." W~ hl!,vc ~inncq in thoughh wor~. Vlt. u.1-25.] 7.'llE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAt OF PETER.