The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 230

Ver. 8.-Watchfulness. Peter may well have remembered the Lord's appeal to him and his companions in the garden of Gethsemane, "Could ye not watch with me one hour?" And his failure upon that occasion to exercise this virtue, connected as it was with the reproach of his Divine Friend, may well have deepened his sense of the importance of the Christian virtue which he in this passage inculcated u11on his readers. I. THE 1''EED FOR WATCHFULNESS. 1. The uncertainty of the future. No one can reckon upon events succeeding one another with even regularity, and therefore no one can make provision for time to come, and abandon himself to security and ease, assured that all thincrs will continue as from the beginning. In our Lord's discourses we find frequent wa.rcings of changes and catastrophes, accompanied by exhortations to vigilance. 2. The certainty that every man will be called upon, and that before very long, to appear before the Divine Judge, to give an account of tbe deeds done in the body. How important that that day should not come upon us unawares and find us unpre- pared! 3. The temptations to unfaithfulness and indolence which beset us from without. Whether Christians are vigilant or not, they m:i.y be sure th11 adversary of souls is upon the alert, and ready to take advantage of every opportunity of attacking us by force or seducing us by craft. 4. 'l'he frailty of our own natw·e is prone to concur with the enemy's activity in exposing us to spiritual danger. ,ve have not only to watch against Satan, we have to watch against self. II. THE METIIODS AND SCOPE OF CHRISTIAN WATCHFULNESS, .As the avenueR by which danger approaches are many, it is necessary to set a guard against every one of them. More eepecially is it important: 1. 'fo watch the thoughts. Out of the h_eart proceed evil thoughts and sins; accordingly the precept of inspiration is most appropriate, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the ~~sues ?f life." 2. 'l'o watch t~e lips. We are reminded by St. James that the tongue 1s a little member, but that it may be set on fire of hell. How much misery is caused by unbridled speech !-misery to the speaker himself, who regrets words spoken in sinful anger or passion of some other kind ; misery to others, whose character may be blasted, whose usef~ness °;lay be crippled. 3. To watch the actions. It has been said that four-fifths of life C?ns1~tii of conduct. Certain it is that, unless the actions be watched, unles11 deeds of Justice and mercy occupy the energies, all professions of religion are worthless. No man ought to be so confident of the stability and purity of his charac~r as to deem himself exemp~ oH. v. 1-14.J THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 227