And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith
virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance;
and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and
to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness,
charity.--_2 Pet. 1, 5-7._
It is a very easy thing, my beloved, to be a Christian, and it is a
very difficult thing to be a Christian. That may sound paradoxical
and strange, but it is soberness and truth. It is very easy to
be a Christian by name, but it is very difficult to be one in
reality. It is an undeniable fact that there are people who call
themselves after the Savior, and yet are a disgrace even to common
decency; whilst others again keep slightly more within the bounds
of morality, yet their tempers remain unsubdued, their tongues
unbridled, they mind earthly things, and there is little or no
difference between them and the people of the world. Even when
they have connected themselves with the Church, and taken formal
discipleship and membership upon themselves, this inconsistency
appears. Some are great saints on great occasions, when there is a
chance to shine in the esteem of men, but are glaringly deficient in
private spheres and duties, and are very leaden and dull where no
applause is forthcoming. Others can always be depended upon where it
costs them nothing, but when burdens are to be borne, their interest
lies somewhere else. Still others are generous enough with their
means, but expect their dollars to answer in place of a pure life
and to counterbalance a vast deal of self-indulgence and unsanctity.
Another class are those who are full of zeal and energy, provided
they are allowed to do everything their own way, and are not
compelled to cooperate with certain other people whom they despise.
And so there are multitudes of chaotic, one-sided, undeveloped,
unsatisfactory professing Christians whose conduct is anything but
consistent with their claims, and in little accord with Him whose
name they would bear.
Now turn to the Scripture,--read the descriptions given in the holy
writings of what constitutes a full-fledged Christian, and holding
up the picture before your spiritual eyes, begin to compare the
modern Christian with the Scriptural one, the real one with the
nominal. For what is a Christian? A Christian is, first of all, a
person who has been justified by faith in Christ; that is his real
character and standing, and as long as he remains true in his faith
and to his Savior, he remains a Christian. But this does not offset,
but rather involves, that the faith by which we are justified and
saved must be a live, an active and vigorous principle, which draws
after it a train of noble virtues and good works; we must not only
be Christians, but show it; we must not only have justifying grace,
but also sanctifying grace, leading us forward in our Christian
profession. We Christians must not be like mill-wheels which move
indeed, but always stand in the same place, or like mill-horses
which go round and round, but never get beyond the one narrow
circle. Nay, we must advance in Christian holiness, go forward
to the full measure of our stature as a Christian. This is the
principal thought that the various Sundays of Trinity urge upon us,
and again in harmony with which we find our text. These words point
out to us: _I. The additions we are to make to our faith_; _II. the
manner in which we must make these additions_. May God bless our
meditations upon them!
The Apostle begins: "Add to your faith virtue." You will observe he
does not want his readers to seek after faith,--that he supposes
them to possess already,--he addresses them as believers, and calls
upon them to add to their belief, as if he would say: You claim to
have faith (it is a good thing to have), but you seem to forget
that faith without works is dead, that Christianity is not only a
spiritual religion, but a practical one. What does a foundation
amount to if the superstructure be not reared? Nothing; it is a
beginning without a progress. Just so with faith,--it is _the_
chief requisite of Christian religion, and must not be a scheme of
doctrine which lies asleep in the mind and never stimulates.
Abraham had faith, and he offered up Isaac. Moses had faith, and
he esteemed the afflictions and hardships of the people of Israel
greater rather than the treasures of Egypt. Abel and Noah had
faith; it led the one to build, and the other to die the death of
a martyr. And so you, claiming to have faith, "add to your faith
virtue." This is the first addition mentioned. Virtue here does
not signify goodness in general, but a particular quality; it
means as much as fortitude, courage, bravery,--add to your faith
courage. And the exhortation was indeed necessary in those days of
the Apostle's writing. Heathenism and Judaism were making common
cause to despise, persecute, and malign the followers of the new
religion. Many of the followers of Christ had to sacrifice home,
country, family, and friends, and wander about as the offscouring of
the earth. Temptations and distractions of the most dangerous kind
were assailing them. And it could not be otherwise; if not rooted
and grounded, firm, courageous, inflexible, they would surely make
shipwreck. It is no less necessary this day. The world is not more
a friend to religion and religionists now than it was then. It is
not an easy thing to encounter adverse opinion, to incur the sneers
and frowns of relatives and associates, or the scorn of persons in
business and society. It is not a pleasant feeling to find yourself
in a small and despised minority, and that minority ofttimes lacking
in appreciation, sympathy, and cooperation. When you add to these
the petty jealousies, misrepresentations, and stabs in the back,
hypocrisies and ingratitude, one is prone to become discouraged,
and to drop off in sullenness and despondency. What we need in such
moments of weakness to support our flagging minds and faltering
energies is virtue,--courage, moral and religious resolve to do and
to dare, to show ourselves as men, and not as moral cowards and
fretting babes. Fie on a Peter that denied his Master before the
taunts of a maid, and shame on the disciples who forsook Him in the
hour of emergency. How noble does there appear in comparison that
Roman soldier at Pompeii who stood in his place when the avalanche
of lava and fire was engulfing the city, where, over a thousand
years afterwards, he was excavated with his sword drawn and still
guarding the city gate. O for a stand to our profession and to God's
Word till He shall say, "It is enough," for a little boldness, holy
determination, courage, firmness to follow our convictions and to
voice them, regardless of the reproach we may endure, or the losses
we may sustain.
The second addition to our faith mentioned is "knowledge." A
knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ, these people to whom
St. Peter wrote indeed had. But there are such heights and depths,
lengths and breadths in Christian knowledge that the greatest of
saints can never get done learning it. The most knowing are like
children on the seashore. Though they may gather the many precious
pebbles and beautiful shells, the vast ocean of truth still lies
unexplored before them, and we need all strive after a deeper and
cleaner insight into the mysteries of God and of His grace.
A person once told me that some people know too much, and that their
very wisdom in sacred things spoils their piety. This may be where
the knowledge is merely a thing of the head and not affecting the
heart, but it will be a sad day for Christianity if ever it comes
to accept the maxim: "Ignorance is the mother of devotion." Another
once told me that it was useless for him to go to church, for he
knew it all. Mistaken man! I saw him on his deathbed and found his
soul so destitute of true knowledge that he had not enough wherewith
to die in peace.
Let us not be deceived! Never can we come to the strength and
stature of men and women in Christ except we search and study the
Scripture, listen attentively to the exposition of the Word. Even
what is most familiar to us we need to have continually repeated in
our ears, lest we forget it, or our piety will go out and die, just
like a lamp that is not supplied with oil. For not only theoretical
knowledge does the Apostle mean here, but, I take it, practical
knowledge, that knowledge which we ordinarily call prudence,
which is knowledge applied to action. And it is a quality which a
Christian must seek to cultivate. A Christian ought to grow wiser as
he grows older. A Christian is intent on studying his character and
his ways. He seeks to make every day an improvement or correction
of the former, deriving strength from his very weaknesses and
firmness from his falls. A Christian distinguishes times, places,
circumstances; he does not rashly offer his opinion, but discerns
when to speak and when to keep silence. When he reproves, he does
so with skill; when he gives, he does so with judgment. A Christian
does not overrate his position and talents, nor does he underrate
them; he is willing to approve things that are excellent, even if
he is not the first to advance them, and is upright enough to speak
against what is wrong, even if it might not be popular. But alas,
what numbers there are of normal Christians whose temper, character,
disposition marks no improvement; they are the same year in and year
out, no better, no holier, no stronger in Christian life; their
Christian experience and advancement is equal to naught. "The wisdom
of the prudent is to understand his way," says Solomon, and the
Apostle exhorts: "Add to your faith knowledge."
Thirdly, "Add to your faith temperance," _i. e._, moderation. Keep
your passions within due bounds and your desires regulated.
Having dwelt at length on this quality recently, we pass on to
the next: "Add to your faith patience." Things are not always to
our fancy and taste. The weather is not always fair and the roads
agreeable. Men and things are liable to vex us, torment us, our
circumstances and connections prove galling and exacting. Nothing is
then more desirable than an antidote to strengthen and invigorate
the soul than patience. It prepares you for every changing scene
and every suffering hour. It sustains you under afflictions, and
gives you that calmness and resignation which so much becomes the
Christian. Nothing is more dishonoring and disnobling than to
behold that disposition which must continually be pampered and
stroked and rocked like a child, under the slightest provocation
and disfavorableness will froth and foam. Amid life's ills practice
patience. As the Holy Scripture expresses it: "Let patience have her
perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing."
Of the remaining virtues mentioned we next have "godliness," meaning
the fear and love of God as it is shown in our lives, pervading
our actions and controlling our every deed. Here is the difference
between morality and religion. An unbeliever, a non-Christian,
may conduct himself just as civilly and respectably outwardly
as a believer, as a Christian. Outwardly, I say, the difference
between the two lies in this: the one does it from consideration,
probably, of gain in society, or probably from a fear of avoiding
the penitentiary, whereas the Christian is prompted in his conduct
by motives and considerations toward his God. You cannot be godly
without being moral; you can pose for moral, and still not be godly.
Godliness consists in this, to bring God into every part of life, to
make Him the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all we
do; and it is only when we do that, and when we make His Word our
rule and His glory our aim, that life is what it is intended to be,
and answers the purpose for which the Creator has given it. To live
without godliness is like an arrow without point and feather,--it
will never hit the target.
Where there is godliness, it will be attended by the other two
virtues mentioned, "brotherly kindness" and "charity." Where there
is water, there it is wet; where there is a tree, there it is
shady; where there are right sentiments toward God, there will also
be right sentiments toward our fellow-Christians and fellow-men.
It matters not how they may differ in age, they possess the same
powers of conscience, reason, and mentality; they are liable to the
same afflictions, are members of the same family, travelers to the
same heavenly grace; they need the same assistance and cheer, hence
I am to exercise toward them brotherly kindness and charity. But
the last is surely not in this case the least, for charity is the
highest attainment in practical Christianity, the fulfilling of the
Law, the bond of perfectness, and, need I add? the most difficult of
all Christian virtues. This charity manifests itself in our conduct
toward the brethren. It is the opposite of that hasty spirit and
temper which is ever finding fault and breaking out in sudden and
rash anger. It is that benignant spirit which does not reckon up
the injuries received with a view of having satisfaction for them.
It pities men's infirmities and moral failures, and makes ample
allowances for them. Nor does it scramble for its own gratification
in disregard of others' rights, dues, and comforts, but seeks to
serve all men as it would serve itself. Nor does it lose heart
and give up in disgust when all meets with discouragements and
obstructions, ingratitude on the part of those for whom it labors
and lives. It is willing to forgive and forget, to defend, and to
put the best construction on everything. It is the highest and
best test of Christian character, the most important, the most
exalted, the most enduring of all virtues. We wonder that the
Apostle mentions it last in the divine category of Christian graces,
directing us to add to our faith.
Let us now proceed, secondly, to inquire how this is to be
accomplished. The Apostle tells us in our text. It is by giving all
diligence, and in order that we might do so, remember these things
deserve your diligence, that diligence will secure them, that they
cannot be secured without diligence. They deserve your diligence. It
is pitiable to see how many thousands are employing their zeal, and
wasting their strength and spending their money, talents, and time
upon practically nothing. Examine the objects for which most men are
striving, the aim for which they are living, and ask yourselves,
Does it reward their toils and indemnify them for the sacrifices
they make? But this cannot be said of spiritual blessings and
virtues. These are in the sight of God of great price, and necessary
to man in his true and real character. They enrich him, dignify him;
they are his chief interest and his glory, making him a blessing
to himself and to all around him. Or who can conceive a higher
purpose and model of existence than a man or woman, pious, moral,
courageous, wise, self-denying, gentle, kind and benevolent?
Secondly, diligence will secure them. In the career of worldly good,
in the sea of life few obtain the prize, and the race is not always
to the swiftest nor the battle to the strongest; wealth and good
fortune do not always fall to the lot of men that strove after them,
nor fame to those that covet it. Here the principle obtains: "Ask,
and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall
be opened unto you." "To the righteous there is a sure reward."
And finally I stated, there is no attaining these virtues without
diligence. Diligence is indispensable in whatever you undertake.
You must labor "for the meat that perisheth." The bread upon your
table--through what a succession of processes it must pass before it
is ready for use. The same may be said of your clothing; in fact,
of everything else. "On earth naught precious is obtained but what
is painful too," and perhaps we would not value and esteem things
if it were not so. And what is true of temporal gifts pertains to
spiritual equally as well.
Awake, then, my dear fellow-Christian, be zealous, be progressive;
it is the only way to prosper. Remember religion is not airy
notions, sleepy wishes, feeble resolutions, and your strength is not
to sit still. The learned are daily adding to their intellectual
treasures, the rich are adding house to house and field to field,
and none of them say: "It is enough." Will you as a Christian not
add to your faith knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to
temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness,
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity? Reflect and
apply, by the help of God. Amen.