1 Peter 1:1-2 - Homiletics

I. ST . PETER 'S DESCRIPTION OF HIMSELF .

1. His name . When his brother Andrew brought him first to Jesus, the Lord who calleth his own sheep by name said to the son of Jona," Thou art Simon." He knew him by name, and he knew his character; he gave him a new name descriptive of that character when matured and strengthened in the faith. He had been a hearer; he was to be a stone, a living stone in the spiritual temple, built upon that Rock which is Christ. That new name was destined to be famous in the world; but Peter had learned to rejoice not in earthly fame, but because his name was written in heaven.

2. His office . He is an apostle of Jesus Christ; he is sent by the Lord; he has a message from him. He feels his own responsibilities; he impresses upon his readers theirs; he must speak, for he has a message; they must listen, for that message is from Jesus Christ. The consciousness of being sent gives earnestness, weight, and dignity to the words of Christ's faithful ministers; if we do not feel that we have a message to deliver, our utterances are forced, unreal, unprofitable. His readers must receive his message with reverence and obedience, for it was the Lord Jesus Christ who gave him the apostolic commission, and the Lord had said, "He that heareth you heareth me." He thinks of the responsibilities of his office, not of its grandeur. His name stands first in all the lists of the apostles; he describes himself simply as a fellow-presbyter ( 1 Peter 5:1 ). The true minister of Christ knows the dignity of his calling; it will keep him humble in the deep consciousness of his own unworthiness.

II. HIS DESCRIPTION OF HIS READERS .

1. They are strangers . God's people are "strangers and pilgrims on the earth" ( Hebrews 11:13 , where the word rendered "pilgrims" is the same with that translated "strangers" here). Here they have no continuing city; they are sojourners—sojourners of the dispersion, dispersed here and there in an unbelieving world. But they have a city which hath foundations; it seems afar off, but faith, like a telescope, brings it within the range of vision. They must lay up their treasures there; their hearts must be there; they must be "not of the world," as their Lord and Master Jesus Christ was not of the world. This word "strangers" first strikes the key-note of the Epistle, which is hope—the hope of the inheritance reserved in heaven.

2. They are elect . The strangers on earth are God's elect in heaven. The fact that they are in a true sense strangers here, that their governing principles, hopes, motives, are not of this world, proves their election of God. We cannot read the names written in the book of life; but we can read our own hearts, and if our heart condemn us not, if the holy name of Jesus is written there, if his love is constraining us to live no longer to ourselves, but to him who died for us and rose again, then have we confidence toward God.

III. THE SALUTATION .

1. Grace . It is the favor of God, the source of every blessing, the origin of our salvation: "By grace are ye saved." It comes from God; it is not earned by any merit of ours; we pray for it for ourselves and for our friends; we can ask for nothing better.

2. Peace . When the grace of God abideth on a soul there is peace within the heart; he must be at peace with God and with himself who lives in the light of grace. Peace is twofold:

3. St . Peter ' s addition . "Grace and peace" is St. Paul's ordinary form of salutation; St. Peter adds the prayer that it may be multiplied. "The path of the just is as the shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day." The grace of God is a power; it draws the Christian onward "from grace to grace." As he grows in grace, the gift of peace becomes fuller and more blessed, passing all understanding. The life of faith is a progress; we cannot stand still; if we are not advancing, we must be receding. Our prayer must be to increase more and more.

LESSONS .

1. Christ's people are strangers here; they must lift up their hearts to their everlasting home.

2. They are the elect of God; they shall be his when he maketh up his jewels.

3. They must live a consecrated life, keeping themselves, by the grace of God, within the sphere of the blessed Spirit's influence.

4. They must walk always in the path of holy obedience; so shall the blood of sprinkling continually cleanse them from their sin.

1 Peter 1:3-12 - Thanksgiving.

I. FOR THE HOPE OF THE CHRISTIAN .

1. The ground of that hope . It is the mercy of God. We need to pray constantly, "Have mercy upon us, miserable sinners;" for, indeed, we are sinners, and sinners must be miserable, unless God is pleased to forgive them and to reconcile them to himself. But God did more than forgive; in his mercy he begat us again. The heavenly inheritance is ours by right of the new birth; we hope for it because we are children of God. We were by nature children of wrath ( Ephesians 2:3 ), but God begat us again; and, if we are children, then are we heirs, heirs of God.

2. The character of that hope . It is a living hope. It is the hope of life, and it is full of life; it is bright, active, cheerful; it springs up ever fresh and clear in the Christian's heart, giving calm peace and inner joy even in the midst of troubles. And it dieth not; worldly hopes perish and die; they mock us with a deluding expectation, but they end in disappointment, and leave us sad and hopeless. "The hope of unjust men perisheth" ( Proverbs 11:7 ), often while they live, always when they die. But "the righteous hath hope in his death" ( Proverbs 14:32 ); for his hope liveth even in death. "The world," says Archbishop Leighton, "dares say no more for its device than Dum spiro spero; but the children of God can add by virtue of this living hope, Dum exspiro spero ."

3. The means by which we are begotten again into that hope . It was by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The new birth is sometimes ascribed, says Archbishop Leighton, "to the subordinate means—to baptism, called therefore the laver of regeneration ( Titus 3:5 ); to the Word of God ( James 1:18 ); to the ministers of this Word, as 1 Corinthians 4:15 , ' For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus have I begotten you through the gospel." But these subordinate means derive their efficacy from the mercy of God saving us through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the only begotten Son. His resurrection was in some sense a birth into a new life of mediation and intercession. Compare St. Paul's application of Psalms 2:7 , 'Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee,' to our Lord's resurrection ( Acts 13:33 ). And it is the cause of our new birth. St. Paul speaks of rising with Christ in baptism ( Colossians 2:12 ); but we can only rise with Christ through his resurrection. That resurrection is 'not only the exemplar, but the efficient cause' of the living hope on which St. Peter loves to dwell" (Leighton).

4. The object of that hope . It is the heavenly inheritance. It is God who fills his people's hearts with the hope of that inheritance. He enlightens the eyes of their understanding, that they may know "what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" ( Ephesians 1:18 ). That inheritance is

5. The certainty of that inheritance which is the object of our hope .

II. FOR THE JOY OF THE CHRISTIAN .

1. It is great . He rejoices in hope; he exults when the blessed hope lives clear and bright in his heart; he strives to "hold fast the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end" ( Hebrews 3:6 ). But:

2. That joy is amid tears; for man is born to sorrow; suffering is the lot of all men, and Christians have their own peculiar trials: "Ye must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom" of God. Those to whom St. Peter wrote were suffering a great trial of affliction: the apostle comforts them, bidding them look away, as far as might be, from their earthly troubles to the joyful hope of everlasting life.

3. The joy of the Lord is strength in the time of trouble . ( Nehemiah 8:10 .) It helps the Christian to discern the meaning of his afflictions; they are but for a moment, for a season, and they are necessary; they come from our Father in heaven, and he doth not willingly afflict nor grieve the children of men; he sends them "for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness" ( Hebrews 12:10 ). They would not be trials if they were not felt; the Christian's cross must sometimes be sharp and heavy, or it would not make him partaker of his Savior's sufferings. The Christian is often sorrowful, but he ought to be "always rejoicing" even in sorrow; for these trials, so hard to bear, are as necessary for the purifying of our faith as fire is for the refining of gold. Gold is counted precious among men; faith is precious in the sight of God. Gold perisheth; faith abideth. The proof of faith is of infinitely greater importance than the proof of gold. Temptations try the Christian's faith. God tried the faith of Abraham and Job; temptation, resisted and overcome, proves faith to be real and true. And temptation refines faith; temptation borne meekly and patiently purifies faith from the taints which cling about every human character; it helps us to overcome pride and self-confidence and worldliness, and keeps us humble, distrustful of ourselves, trusting only in God. The joy of the Lord, realized amid sorrow, helps the Christian to believe that these trials, so grievous now, will be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

4. It springs out of the love of Christ . Love implies knowledge. We see not the Lord Christ with the bodily eye; but the vision of faith is more precious far than sight; many who saw him did not believe. "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed;" for faith brings the Lord very near to the soul, yea, into the heart; faith opens the door to him, and then he entereth in, and maketh his abode within the heart that in faith receives him. Therefore we may know him with a real knowledge, with that knowledge which is eternal life, with the knowledge with which the true sheep know the good Shepherd—the knowledge which he himself, in the wonderful words of John 10:14 , John 10:15 , compares with the knowledge with which he himself, the Son of God, knows the eternal Father. It is a knowledge of love, of intimate spiritual communion. "Truly," says St. John, "our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." The joy of God's saints is unspeakable.

"No tongue of mortal can express,

No pen can write their blessedness;

He only who hath proved it knows

What bliss from love of Jesus flows."

It were a poor thing," says Leighton, "if he that hath that joy could Sell it all out. Pauperis est numerare peens . And when the soul hath most of it, then it remains most within itself, and is so inwardly taken up with it, that possibly it can then least of all express it. It is with joys as they say of cares and griefs, Leves loquuntur, ingentes stupent . The deepest waters run stillest. 'Res severa est verum gaudium,' says Seneca. True joy is a solid, grave thing; it dwells more in the heart than in the countenance; whereas, on the contrary, base and false joys are but superficial, skin-deep (as we say); they are all in the face." And it is full of glory, glorified with a foretaste of the glory that is to be revealed; for they who have that joy are spoken of as even now receiving the end of their faith, the salvation of souls. That precious gift of salvation is not only negative, deliverance from the guilt and power of sin; it is much more than this—it is Christ himself manifested into the believer's heart. He is our Jesus, the Salvation of Jehovah to his chosen; his presence sheds a glory round. "The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them." In such measure as that presence is realized, is the blessing of salvation, the end of our faith, received. His saints as they grow in grace, are ever receiving a fuller and deeper salvation—the salvation of souls now. Hereafter he "shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory" ( Philippians 3:21 , Revised Version).

III. THE DEEP INTEREST TAKEN IN THAT HOPE AND JOY .

1. By the prophets . Christians are often apathetic: they do not realize the exceeding glory and grandeur of the joy that is set before them; their hearts are dull and cold. It was not so with the prophets. They saw not what the apostles saw; but the Spirit of Christ was in them; it testified of the sufferings of Christ and his after-glories. They inquired and searched diligently by prayer and devout thought, like Habakkuk ( Habakkuk 2:1 ) and the psalmist ( Psalms 85:8 ); or sometimes by study and reading, like Daniel ( Daniel 9:2 ). We should imitate them; we should search the Scriptures, we should meditate and watch and pray. We should every day fix our hearts in devout contemplation on the sufferings of Christ; we should lift up our souls to behold in thankful adoration the glories of the risen, ascended Lord. Very sacred and precious must be the mysteries of our salvation which attracted the concentrated attention of those holy men. They saw the facts of our Lord's life and death afar off; we have received the gospel from eye-witnesses speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. That Holy Ghost, the Comforter, once sent by Christ from the Father ( John 15:26 ), abides forever with the faithful; he will guide us into all truth; if we search for it like the prophets, he will lead us nearer and nearer to the Savior.

2. By the angels . But higher intelligences than the prophets are interested in the scheme of our salvation. The blessed angels long to look into these things, and that with rapt fixed attention. The mystery of godliness, manifest in the flesh, was seen of angels ( 1 Timothy 3:16 ). They watched the great facts in the history of redemption; they delight to contemplate the progress of the gospel now. They watch with intensest interest the great struggle between good and evil in the world, and as each ransomed soul, drawn by the power of the cross, turns to God, " there is joy in the presence of the angels of God." How strange that men, for whom the Lord Jesus died, should be so cold and listless, while angels, of whom he took not hold as he taketh hold of the seed of Abraham ( Hebrews 2:16 , Revised Version), look so eagerly into the great truths of our redemption! They are our fellow-servants ( Revelation 22:9 ); we shall he their fellow-students, if we take example from them, and study with love and awe and reverence the life, the death, the resurrection, of him who loved us even unto death.

LESSONS .

1. Cherish the Christian's hope; earthly hopes are but castles in the air, delusive, unsubstantial; the living hope abideth.

2. Thank God for the hope of glory; it comes only from his mercy; it cheers us in our troubles, in the approach of death; in everything give thanks.

3. The heavenly inheritance is kept for God's elect; they are kept for it; let them rejoice evermore.

4. Their trials are precious; they issue in praise and honor and glory; let them rejoice even in sorrow.

5. The love of Christ gives the holiest joy; let us seek that joy in seeking to love him more and more.

6. Prophets and angels love to gaze into the mysteries of our redemption; let us do the like.

1 Peter 1:13-25 - Practical exhortations.

I. TO PROGRESS IN HOLINESS .

1. The necessity of earnest effort . Christians are pilgrims and strangers; they must not loiter on their way, they must press toward the mark. The journey is long and laborious; they must gather up their robes, for there are many miry places, there is much pollution in the world, and "blessed are they that have not defiled their garments; they shall walk with the Lord in white." They must gird them up round their loins lest they hang down and impede their progress. They must lay aside the sin which doth so easily beset them, and keep their affections and desires closely girt in, that they become not loose and hinder them. They must not allow their mind to be listless and apathetic; they must keep their thoughts active, fixed on their journey and on its end.

2. Old lusts must be forsaken . The assured hope of salvation will urge the Christian to follow after holiness: "He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself." Holiness is separation from all that defileth. Christians must, as obedient children, forsake the world, the flesh, and the devil; they must not fashion themselves after the likeness of the lusts of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; for the image of Christ cannot be traced upon the soul that bears the impress of these evil things. The heathen had the excuse of ignorance; we Christians have the light; let us beware lest any of us incur the awful condemnation of those who love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.

3. The pattern to be set before us . It is the all-holy God himself. "Summa religionis est imitari quem coils. The essence of religion consists in the imitation of him we worship" (Leighton). The gods of the heathen were represented as actuated by human passions and stained with hateful sins; their character must have reacted upon their ignorant worshippers; their worship was degrading. Our God is the most Holy One, awful in holiness. He has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness; he has set us apart for himself, that we should be holy to him. "Holiness unto the Lord" was inscribed upon the miter of the high priest; it should be written in the hearts of Christians, who are a holy priesthood, dedicated to the service of God. Holiness lies in the imitation of God. "Be ye followers [literally, 'imitators'] of God as dear children," says St. Paul. It is the high pattern for the Christian, very high indeed above us, but yet set before us by God himself. We must make it our constant effort, by the promised help of his Holy Spirit, to become "partakers of his holiness;" we should follow after holiness in all things, in all the circumstances of our lives, in all manner of conversation. If we earnestly desire it with a strong sustained longing, with hunger and thirst, then we know—for we have his gracious word—we shall be filled.

II. TO HOLY FEAR .

1. The first reason : the judgment . St. Peter, the apostle of hope, dwells much on the deep and hidden joy which is vouchsafed to the faithful Christian. St. Paul, the apostle of faith, again and again urges upon us the same duty, the same privilege, of joy in the Lord. But both apostles bid us fear God; "pass the time of your sojourning here in fear;" "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Then faith and hope and joy are not inconsistent with fear. Nay, there can be no true faith and hope and joy without fear; for God's grace, out of which flow faith and hope and joy, produces also holy fear; without reverence and godly fear we cannot serve him acceptably ( Hebrews 12:28 ). True religion implies a deep sense of God's presence; and that presence, realized by faith, must inspire a solemn awe into the heart to which it is granted. He who lives very near to God, as Abraham did, must feel, as Abraham did, that it is a solemn thing for one who is but dust and ashes to speak unto the Lord ( Genesis 18:27 ). Flesh and blood, conscious of unworthiness, must have something of that awful dread which led St. Peter himself once to say, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" The first petition in the prayer which the Lord himself hath taught us, the prayer which St. Peter apparently had in his thoughts when he wrote these verses, is, "Hallowed be thy Name." Our first approach to the throne of grace must be made with deep and solemn reverence. The very seraphim covered their faces when they chanted, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord;" and we sinful men must learn reverence from the blessed angels when we draw near to God. We call him our Father; that precious name tells us of his love, but it reminds us also of the honor due to such a Father. We are but sojourners here; this life, with all its cares and excitements, will soon be gone. Be not over-anxious; fear not earthly troubles and trials; think of the end, the judgment which is coming, and live in the holy fear of God. He "judgcth according to every man's work." Is our work so thorough that we have no need to fear? God's holiest servants feel their unworthiness the most; they are conscious, not only of many great sins in the past, but of much frailty and inconstancy always. There are strange inconsistencies and vacillations and falterings, even in the holiest lives. The sense of weakness keeps God's people in the holy fear of God, and that fear makes them vigilant and circumspect. They think often of the judgment; they think of themselves standing before the throne. They have hope, a blessed hope through their Lord's atoning blood; but that hope must be mingled with fear even in saints. "My flesh trembleth for fear of thee," said the psalmist, "and I am afraid of thy judgments."

2. The second reason : the great price with which we were bought . There is another reason, higher and holier, for godly fear—the ransom given for our souls. The fear of judgment may have much of selfishness in it; the thought of Christ's exceeding great love is the high Christian motive. If a dear friend had given his silver and gold to redeem us from shame and punishment, we should regard him with reverent gratitude, and fear to displease him. But Christ gave himself; he shed his precious blood. The sacrifice was exceeding precious; the sacred Victim was without blemish and without spot, and foreordained before the foundation of the world. These thoughts ought to fill us with holy fear when we gaze upon the cross. The cross, as it reveals the blessed love of Christ., throws an awful light on the guilt of sin and on its tremendous consequences. Then there is need of fear. Indeed, "perfect love casteth out fear," but

3. Consider further

III. TO BROTHERLY LOVE .

1. Charity is the end of the commandment . ( 1 Timothy 1:5 .) St. Peter is the apostle of hope; but, like St. Paul the apostle of faith, he joins with St. John the apostle of love in his earnest exhortations to follow after charity. He presses that high duly upon us in words of intense earnestness. He knows how hard it is for our selfish hearts to love as Christians ought to love—he knows how essential it is for our salvation, for our happiness, for the happiness of others, that we should exercise that heavenly grace. He calls it philadelphia, brotherly love—a word which, except as the name of one of the seven Churches of Asia, we find only in St. Peter (here and 2 Peter 1:7 ) and St. Paul ( Romans 12:10 ; 1 Thessalonians 4:9 ) and in Hebrews 13:1 . The Lord Jesus had said, "All ye are brethren;" the holy apostles remembered his words.

2. Whence that charity must spring .

3. Charity abideth . The seed whereof we are born again is incorruptible; and the Word of God, which is the instrument of our new birth, abideth for ever; therefore charity, the love of the brethren, which springs out of our common birth into the family of God, never faileth. It is the flower of the Christian life, bright and beautiful and fragrant, It fadeth not like the flowers of this world. "All flesh is grass," said the prophet, and the holy apostle repeats his words. "The grass withereth;" generations of men come and go; one after another, like the leaves of each successive year, they perish and decay. And if some men are conspicuous among the multitude, distinguished by rank, or riches, or learning, or great deeds and triumphs and successes, all these glories are no more abiding than the beauty of a flower. The rare flower, delicate or gorgeous, shines in its brightness above the common weeds; but it has no more permanence, no longer lease of life; it droops and fades and falleth away. So is it with that human life which seems most brilliant, most glorious. "The rich man also died, and was buried." The dust of Caesar is no better than the dust of Lazarus; both mingle with the earth from which they came. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," is said over the grave of kings and of beggars. "But the Word of the Lord abideth forever." That Word is the instrument of our new birth. Therefore, if only we abide in him who is the Word of God, who hath the words of eternal life, and by his apostles has declared them unto us; if we abide in him as faithful branches abiding in the vine, then we can never perish, none can pluck us out of his band; for "he is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him." And that Word is the gospel, the glad tidings which we have heard. Let us welcome it as good tidings of great joy, let us treasure it in our hearts; it will bring forth fruit—the fair fruit of holy deeds, "the white flower of a blameless life," fruit that dieth not, a flower that falleth not away.

LESSONS .

1. The journey is lung, the way is steep; be active, sober, hopeful.

2. The end is before the throne; without holiness none can stand in that presence; follow after holiness.

3. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;" think of the judgment; think of the precious blood.

4. "God is Love;" "He that loveth not knoweth not God;" see that ye love one another.

5. "All the glory of man is as the flower;" it fadeth, it falleth away; holy love fadeth not; it is the fairest flower in the amaranthine wreath.