The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 124

countries, but i1;1 this country, wl10 do not see that it is necessary to build. 'l'hoy nro levellers, °:ot builders. They would pull down, not merely the wrongs of past ccntnrios, but tile rights of all centuries; not merely church establishments, but tho Church itself; not merely human speculations, but the everlasting truths of the Bible. It is a gigantic mistake. A nation's greatness will soon be shown to be hollow, if there is no building up in family piety; l!O just and generous dealing, as between all classes, and toward other nations. A sad havoc some of our destructivcs would make, if there were not some honourable public men, and many who arc quietly building away in their own homes and in their own neighbourhoods, as they seo to be right before God. But those Jewish rulers were further appointed to build up the Church. 'l'hey bad to deliberate and to devise regarding all that greatly pertained to tbo ecclesiastical lifo of the nation. And the honourableness of their position at that time appears in this, that they might have had the placing of Obrist in the building. It was something more honourable than had fallen to Moses, who merely introduced the types of Christ. It fell to them, as the representatives of the Church at the time, to single out and introduce Christ himself. But there, also, lay their great responsibility. They might do a great service, putting Christ into the place intended for him; or they might do a great dis- service, setting him aside, and putting him in a false light before the nation-who were. appointed to lead when the times were becoming full of most profound interest. It depended on bow they used their responsibility. It unhappily turned out in the !alter wc.y. Their crime is represented as a refusing of him whom God meant to be chief Corner-stone. What made their conduct so criminal was that they acted against the light. True, there were others who rose up about that time claiming to be the Messiah. But they were there, as the appointed, trained representatives of the nation, to sift the evidence. And the damaging circumstance was that they had evidence more than enongb, as full as the conditions allowed, presented to them by Christ; and yet they rejected him. He had a wonder-working power greater than was possessed by their great ancestor Moses-which was a clear mark of God on him. .And as remark- able as his forth-putting of power was bis range of knowledge, extending beyond earth to the things which he had seen with the Father-which was another made of God. And then the whole tone of his life was in keeping, and fitted bo remove all honest doubt. But these builders were blind. They could not distinguish Messiah- ship when they saw it. They would not even give him credit for ordinary goodness. 'l'bey could have got as much from the old as would have enabled them to slide easily into the new. Had they truly appreciated the types, they would have known the Autitype. Had they been apt students of prophecy, they would have known him to whom prophecy bears witness. But they had not even the right Old 'l'estament point of view. They were falsely conservative. 'l'hey had substituted authorized but outward and temporary forms and ceremonies for the living, eternal ideas, and rabbinical traditions for the decisive words of inspiration. .And their conservatism would l.tave been most destructive. If they had got their way, they would have kept Christ from having his proper place or any place in the building. And thus there would have been no salvation for man, but black, terrible destruction. No temple would have risen up in thie world, each stone a saved soul. '!'hat would have been the consequence of the conservatism of those Jewish leaders. What they thought was building up, ancl keeping to the truth, and resisting innovation, would have been in its results the pulling down of all to the depths of ruin. So blind were these builders. 'l'hey are not the only destroyers who would raze to the foundation; but those also are makin~ work for destruc- tion who build narrowly, who do not take the breadth of the ·word of God for them- selves nor will allow it for ethers. Had these Jewish builders been loyal to the truth, rever:ncing the old which had fairly stood the test, and welcoming al.~o the nc~ which seemed to promise larger development, they would not have made the mistake which they did. Had they even had some spiritual affinity to the Messiah, they would have beea carried out beyond their narrowness. Israelites indeed, in whom there was no guile, they would have been carried on from a glorious living past to a more glorious and widen- ing, livir,11: future. Bnt this is theil' condemnation, that light came into the world; aud the-y loved the darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Let us beware of self-deception. These rulers thought they were doing God service in what they did to Christ. If they could so far deceive themselves who occupied so pro-  on. TI, 1-25.J 'I'llE FmsT EPlSTLE GENERA!, OF PETEP.. 119