Vers. 13-18 (part).-Su.ffering for righteousness. I. THE FACT THAT GOOD MEN SUFFER, FOB. THEIR GOODNESS, FROM THEIR FELLOW-MEN. Though Peter used the word "if," it was not because such suffering was unlikely or infrequent, but because it was not universal, and because the reflections on which he had been dwellina seemed calculated to make such suffering impossible. 1. For it might seem as th7iugh the promised guardianship of God would have ensured the security of good men. Hut no. 2. Or it might have seemed that an upright benevolent life would have evoked nothin" but kindness and gratitude from one's fellow-men. But no. "Who is he that will harm you?" read in the lurid light of persecution, cannot mean, "Who is he that will havE> the will to harm you?" However mysterious it may be, it is an unquestioned and unquestionable fact that men suffer for righteousness' sake. It was so from Daniel to Peter, from Moses to Paul. "If you would follow the Church's history," it has been too truly said, "it is by the track of her blood." II. 'l'HE INSPIBED DIRECTION FOR MEN IN SUCH WRONGFUL BUFFERING. "Fear not their fear; " that is, the fear their threats seek to awaken. " Sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord;" give him the shrine of worship. "Ready always to give a reason." Be, in Newman's sense, ready with an "apologia." "Having a good conscience;" tbat is, one keenly alive and free from reproach. " That they may put to shame them that revile." Wear the silver shield of innocent lives, so be "defenders of the faith." JII. THE LOFTY PRIVILEGE OF THOSE WHO BUFFER FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS' SAKE, "Blessed are ye." Here, again, as often in this Epistle, is an echo of the sermon on the mount. Ali the Beatitudes pledge you blessing. "Better, if the will of God should so will, suffer for well-doing," etc. God wills suffering. God wills suffering for well- doing. But there is no element of reproach in that, not to say of remorse. Suffering is of service, and it is "better" the suffering (which all need) should not come from our sin. "For Christ also suffered for sins, the Righteous for the unrighteous." Fellow- ship with him is ensured. IV. THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF MEN WHO BUFFER IN THlB SPIRIT BEING REALLY INJURED, ".A.nd who is he that can harm you?" Canon Mason says this form of inquiry, begin- ning" and," has always in it a ring of scornful assurance. Here is the" charm" for Christians to wear-" a good conscience." 'l.'hen to all wrongful treatment of malign men you can say, "Strike! you cannot harm. Strike I you may embarrass my cir- cumstances, undermine my health, main my lim be, rob me of reputation, take away my life ; lYJt strike I you cannot harm me. Such a man "Can the darkening universe defy To quench his immo1tality, Or shake his faith in Goel." U.R.T. Vere. 18-20.-The mission of our Saviour. I. The CHARAOTER of the mission of the Saviour. 1. His mission was one of suffering. He" suffered." Christianity is not the worship of sorrow, according to the cavil of some; but it is the worship of One who had much to <lo with sorrow, touched it at its every pore. 2, His mission was OH, m. l-22.] THE FIRS'r EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 161
one of innocent suffering. Many suffer wrongfully, be absolutely innocently. "The Righteous." 3. His mission was one of vicariOU8 suffering; "for," i.e. on account of, Lhe unrighteous. 4. Bis mission WBB one wnconqu.ered by suffering. "Being put to death in the flesh, he was quickened in the spirit." II. '!'he PURPOSE of the mission of the Saviour. "That he might brin" us to Goel." Implying: 1. We are away from God. Not (1) locally, but in (2) est~an"ement of heart. That is the "far country." 2. We can be restored to God. 'rhe great gulf is not fixed. The golden word of the gospel is " reconciliation.'' 3. God himself brinqs us back by Christ. No mutual quarrel; God always pitiful. '' Long-suffering," etc. Guthrie well says, "'1.'he central truth of the Bible is not that God loves us because Christ died, but that Christ died because God loves." III. 'l'HE EXTENT OF THE INFLUENCE of the Saviour's mi~sion. The literature of ver. 19 is a library. But apart from any confusion created by that literature, is it not clearly taught ?-1. That Christ had a mission to disembodied spirits after his death. Killed in the flesh, in the spirit he triumphed, and in the spirit went on that wider, deeper mission. 2. His mission to disembodied spirits was in harmony with that of all his life. He "preached." Some read it, " He sealed with the curse of damnation." Is it not rather, as everywhere, "proclaimed repentance, pardon," "heralded love awl mercy and hope"? 3. This mission was to disembodied spirits in a state or place of misery. "Prison.'' Some change the word to "Paradise.'' Dare we do that'? It is rather the abode of the guilty, the disobedient, of whom the apostle gives a dark specimen (ver. 20). Dean .Alford says, "This throws a blessed light on one of the darkest enigmas of Divine justice." Yet mark, there is no light view of sin here. It is awful for spirits to be in prison, and in prison for twenty-four centuries.-U. R. T.