The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 96

3-od.. 'l'herefore ,he ta~es one of bis t.ribe, and sets him apart to stand bet,veen bim md bis deity. 'I be pnest has to represent man to God and God to man. Ria chief '.unction is sacrifice, and, iu addition to it, he has to be intercessor and media.tor-to m1!g the messages of the god to his worshippers, to represent the worshippers before ;heir god. Jesus is all this in himself, by no external appointment, "not by the law >f a carnal commandment, but by the power of an endless life." He is all this in ;olitary incommunicable manner. He, and none but he, brin"s God to men, and men ;o God. He alone is, in real essential unity, man's Ileprese~tative and Intercessor. tle alone offers the sacrifice for the world. He stands the sole Priest, his office unique, 11s Person_ so!e and s1;1preme, having and tolerating no companions in his solemn mtrance w1thm t~e veil, and h~ving neither beginning of days nor end of life. Dut ;h~ consecratmg 01! flows from him to us, and we too, by derivation from him, become mests to God. His hand laid ou us sets us apart for sacred functions which are not all mlike his own, but are their consequence and carrying out. We too have to represent 3-od to men, because Christ has given God to us. We have to move amon" our fellows ;bowing to them something of the splendour of the Divine love, the reflection of which n us some weak eyes may bear, which would be dazzled by the direct beams. We have ;o_ intercede for men with God, and are invested with the solemn privilege carryinl': with it a heavy responsibility, of free access to the secret place of the Most High, and Jf prayer that prevails with him. There is but one Priest in the Church. There are 10 priests in the Church. All are priests in the Church. lll. CHRIST OFFERS AND IS THE ONE SACRIFICE; WE BEOOME ACOEPTABLE SAORI- rICES THROUGH HilL There are two elements in the idea of sacrifice-surrender and 11:piation. The great work of Jesus Christ embraces both. "Not my will, but ;hine," is the inmost meaning of his whole life. He offered himself in the· perfect, mbrok:en, joyful surrender of his will to the Father. That sinless Being, perpetually rielding itself in meek obedience, undisturbed by self-will, and spotless in its purity, Lttains the highest form of surrender, a.nd stands alone as, in that aspect, the fulfilment >f the ideal of sacrifice. All the life, which was thus perfect surrender to the Father's will, was also expiation. Himself bare our sins in his lowliness and sorrows, in tho ;yrnpathy which wrung his heart, as well as in the awful solitude when.he experienced Jie utmost penalty of the sin which he had never committed, in the consciousness of 1epnration from God, which is eternal death, and in the physical death which is but :be pictured shadow of that awful reality. His sacrifice, as surrender, stands alone in iegree, as being absolute and stainless. His sacrifice, as expiation, stands alone i;11_ rind, incapab!e of repetition or imitation, and, blessed be God, needing none. Bu~ ~I .ve have come to him and partaken of his life, we shall, in the measure of our part1c~- Jation, become sacrifices too-not indeed expiatory, but eucharistic. For, touched ~y. h!s .ove, and possessing his Spirit, we shall joyfully give up ourselves. Our true sacrifice 1o the surrender of our wills to the Divine will. We have to lay ourselves upon the altar which sanctifies and glorifies giver and gift; so shall we receive back again a better .elf, ennobled and purified. Life should be one loIJg sacrifice, being all lived with oontinual reference to him, and continual suppression of self. By him, too, we should offer the sacrifice of praise continually, and present the "much incense" of pra:rer. Dy b.im., too, we are to bring the sacrifices of doing good and imparting, with which God 1s well pleased. And by Lim we may at last offer the libation of pouring ~ut. our souls mto death, and complete the sacrifices of a )ife of faith by a death of subm1ss100. The iignities and prerogatives of the Christian life, expressed in the grand tr~ths that we ire temples and priests, a.re granted to us, not for honour, but for ser~1ce, V(e arc t.emples and priests that we may be sacrifices. All lo(ty gifts are our~ with a V1ew ~o ,his highest end, that we may yield ourselves wholly to God,_and, losmg ourselves m i:tter surrender, may have our poor 511,crifice accepted through him who alone has offered the one perfect sacrifice for sins for evermore.-A. M. Ver. 7.-The Head of the wrner; or, the Stone of stumbling. The Author}zed Yersion's rendering of these words has been felt by many devout souls. to ".ontam a truth which tbeir deepest experience joyfully confirmed. 'fbe true meanmg ld no less great an<l beautiful Literally, they read, "Unto you who believe is [or, 'belongs•~ en. u.1-25.J 1'RE FIUST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. Gl