The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 203

ftrang<'l', nnd ye took me in." "\Vithout murmuring;" i.e. without ~rumbling. Three watch-dogs keep the door of the inhospitable man: temper, suspicion, reproach. "If any man srwnketb." Just as th_e hands put on the table viands for the body, the lips are to spr<'ad a banquet for the mtelleet and the heart. How? "As it were oracles of God." That must mean with reality, with purity, with tenderness. "If any man ministereth." This comprehends evcl'y form of service. It is a widening of the other two ,inst mentioned. "As of the strength which God supplies." That implies that the 8<'r"ice ,vill be rendererl (1) humbly,-no pride, for he is a channel only, not a fountain• (2) freely,-no stint, or grudging, when God is the Source. ' IlI. O!s'E r.- PURPOSE. "That in all things God may be glorified." Hospitality teaching, alm~giving, all are to be for the glory of God. ''Through Jesus Christ." Had it not been for Jesus Christ., that kindness, activity, wisdom, liberality, would not have been. He a\\'akcn<'d all. He is the Head from whom the life of love flows. "Whose is the glory and dominion, for ever and ever. Amen." This is not a note of conclusion but of strong emotion. Reason, gratitude, love, all utter their deep "amen" to th~ declaration that God through Christ has endless glory and dominion.-U. R. T. Vers. 12-14.-.The Christian'sfiery trial. "Behold, think it not strange concern- ing," etc. Some have thought Peter is alluding to the burning of Rome, but both because the conception of suffering generally as fire is very common in the Old Testa- ment Scripture, with which Peter shows himself familiar, and also because he is writina to Christiaus, upon whom through all parts of the Asiatic provinces of Rome th; cruelties of Nero's persecution were being in many ways wreaked, we conclude' that "the .fiery trial" is a wider and more scathing and more enduring conflagration than thnt which destroyed the imperial city. So the lessons here are of wide appli- cation. They cover the whole scope of Christian suffering. I. THE CHRISTIAN MUST NOT RECKON HIS SUFFERINGS AS STRANGE. Tenrlerly, with the word "beloved," Peter bids Christian sufferers not to feel themselves bewildered as men in a strange country. Do not let suffering shock you. Do not fear as you enter- into the cloud. Why not? Because: 1. The sorrows the Christian shares in common with the world generally are not strange. His religion will not exempt him from bodily pa.in, business calamities, social bereavement, physical death. 2. The -sorrows that Christians endure in persecution because they are Christian·s are not strange. Persecu-· tion is not to be wondered at. It is (1) an instinct of evil men; (2) in harmony with all history. The flippant dislike the real, the unclean are angry with the pure, the votaries of error are irritated with the teachers of truth, the· wicked hate the good; Lcnce the pains and penalties of persecution are not strange. 3. The sorrows that are the direct result of Christian spirit and character are not strange. (1) Grief for sin and imperfection; (2) compassion for the miserable; (3) self-sacrificing sympathy for the vicious and wretched. No. Trial is not ''strange;" for: (1) It meets the necessities ef Christian character. "It cometh upon you to prove you." (2) It ia in fulfilment of the repeated declarations of God's Word. (3) It is in harmony with all the biographies of good men. The device on the Church's shield is the bush tliat burns and yet is not consumed. JI. THE CHRISTIAN MAY FIND IN HIS SORROWS A CAUSE FOR PROFOUND JOY; To Peter, as well as his beloved brother Paul, the vast region of sorrow was not unknown or unexplored; they d d not feel "strange" in it, as bewildered men in a foreign country. They had descried ligbt on its hill-tops, drunk of streams in its deserts, plucked flowers in it; solitudes, eaten manna in its wastes. How was this? They were "partakers of Christ's sufferings." Some of our Lord's sorrows a.re infinite secrets. Some can be known and shared. Such as : 1. .Agonizing sensiti-veness to sin. His sigh, tear, groan, we may know in our experience. 2. Sacrificial compassion for sinners. 3. Sternly self-denying loyalty to duty. In all these we may, we must as Christians, be partakers of Christ's sufferings. "At the revelation of his glory." 'l'hese words speak of unspeakable future joy. To rejoice in the n,velation of his glory, which will be the triumph of pity, of purity, of the mission to bless others, we must be partakers of hie sufferings. Blessed now with reproach for his sake, we shall, by growing resem- blance to him and gracious reward from him, be blessed then. "The Spirit of glory and of God resteth on you." '!'his token of tlJc Divine presence not simply indi- cm. IV, 1-10.] THE FIRS'r EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 199