the words found most favour, but at the time of the Reformation the
chief authorities[11] expounded them of the preaching of Christ's
Spirit through the ministry of the patriarch. For the main argument
with which St. Peter is dealing these applications, however
interesting in themselves, are not deeply important. He wants to set
before the converts a warrant for what he has said about the
blessedness of suffering for righteousness. If we accept the
application to Noah, the example is a powerful one. His sufferings
must have been manifold. The long time between the threatened
judgement and its accomplishment was filled with the opposition of
sinners and their mockery and taunts over his patient labour on the
ark, to say nothing of the distress of soul when he found his
preaching falling ever on deaf ears. But his trial had its reward at
last when the little band were shut in by God Himself, and the ark
bore them safely on the rising waters. And if he could feel that any,
though perishing in body, had by repentance been saved in soul, this
would make light the burden even of greater suffering than had fallen
to the patriarch, to know the joy which comes from converting a sinner
from the error of his way and therein saving a soul from death.
[11] It marks the time of this change of opinion that in the first
form of the English Articles (the forty-two of 1553) the text 1 Peter
iii. 19 was given as evidence for the descent into hell in Article
III., but in the later form (the thirty-nine of 1563) the allusion to
St. Peter's words was omitted. No doubt the divines of that time
wished to do away with all that might be used to countenance the
doctrine of purgatory.
And if we refer the words "quickened in the spirit" to the soul of
Christ, parted from the body and present in the spirit-world, they are
a link to connect this passage with words of the Apostle's sermon on
the day of Pentecost. There he does speak of the Lord's descent into
hell, and teaches how David of old spake thereof and of the
Resurrection "that neither was He left in Hades, nor did His flesh see
corruption" (Acts ii. 31). In this sense the quickening in the spirit
is the beginning of Christ's victory and triumph. It is the earnest of
eternal life to all believers. And how welcome a message to those who,
like Abraham, had rejoiced in faith to see the day of Christ, to hear
from His own lips the tidings of the victory won! Of the Herald of
such a Gospel message, of Him who by His suffering delivered those who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage, we
may, with all reverence, speak as "being made perfect by becoming the
Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey Him" (Heb. v. 9).
_Wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved._ The building of the
ark was the test of Noah's faith, the ark itself the means of his
preservation. In the patriarch's sufferings St. Peter has found an apt
parallel to the life of these Asian Christians: the same godless
surroundings; the same opposition and mockery; the same need for
steadfast faith. But if rightly pondered, the Old Testament lesson is
rich in teaching. Noah becomes a preacher of righteousness, not for
his own generation only, but for all time. He suffered in his
well-doing. Nothing stings more keenly than scorn and contempt. These
he experienced to the full. He came as God's herald to men who had put
God out of all their thoughts. His message was full of terror:
"Behold, I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all
flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that
is in the earth shall die" (Gen. vi. 17). Few heeded; fewer still
believed. But when the work of the messenger was over; when the ark
was prepared, and the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and
the windows of heaven were opened; when he and his were shut in by
God, then appeared the blessedness. And if haply there had been any in
whom he had beheld signs of repentance, how the thought that some
souls were saved, though their bodies were drowned with the rest,
would magnify the rejoicing of the rescued; and the overthrow of the
ungodly would proclaim how little ultimate bliss there could be in
evil-doing. All these things would come home to the hearts of the
"strangers of the dispersion."
And were they few in number? Fewer still were those who stood with
Noah in the world's corruption. But God was with him; he walked with
God, and found grace in His eyes; and God blessed him when the Flood
was gone, and by the sign of the covenant, the faithful witness in
heaven (Psalm lxxxix. 37), has placed a memorial of the happiness of
his well-doing before the eyes of mankind for ever. And it would
comfort the believers if they kept in mind the object which St. Peter
has so often set before them, and on which he would have them set
their desire in their distress. There was hope, nay assurance, that
the heathen world around them would be won by their steadfast
well-doing to the service of the Lord. Christ did not send his
followers on a hopeless quest when He said, "Go, baptize all nations."
It was no material ark they were set to fashion; they were exalted to
be builders of the Church of Christ. And to put one stone upon another
in that building was a joy worth earning by a life of sacrifice.
_Saved through water._ But God appointed the same waves to be the
destruction of the disobedient. With no faith-built ark in which to
ride safe, the sinners perished in the mighty waters which to Noah
were the pathway of deliverance. A solemn thought this for those who
have the offer of the antitype which the Apostle turns next to
mention! This double use which God makes of His creatures--how to some
they bring punishment, to others preservation--is the theme of several
noble chapters in the book of Wisdom (xi.-xvi.), expanding the lesson
taught by the pillar of a cloud, which was light to Israel, while it
was thick darkness to the Egyptians.
_Which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism._
Under the new covenant also water has been chosen by Christ to be the
symbol of His grace. His servants are baptized into the name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This is the door appointed for entrance
into the family. But the waters of the Flood would have overwhelmed
Noah, even as the rest, had he not been within the ark, and the ark
would not have been made had he been lacking in faith. So in baptism
must no more saving office be ascribed to the water. Even the Divine
word, "the word of hearing, did not profit some, because they were
not united by faith with them that heard aright" (Heb. iv. 2). Neither
does the sign in baptism, though Divinely instituted, profit, being
alone. The Christian, having been cleansed by the washing of water
with the word, is sanctified by Christ because of his faith. The
washing of regeneration must be joined with the renewing of the Holy
Ghost. That Spirit does not renew, but convicts of sin those who
believe not on Christ (John xvi. 8). In his salvation Noah accepted
and acted on God's warning about things not seen as yet, and so his
baptism became effectual. In faith, too, Israel marched through the
Red Sea, and beheld the overthrow of their heathen pursuers. And
baptism mixed with faith is saving now. Those Old Testament
deliverances were figures only of the true, and were but for temporal
rescue. Christ's ordinance is that to which they testified before His
coming, and is coupled with the promise of His presence even unto the
end of the world.
And that there may be no place for doubting, the Apostle subjoins a
twofold explanation. First he tells us what baptism is not, then what
it is and what it bestows. It is _not the putting away of the filth of
the flesh_. Were this all, it would avail no more than the cardinal
ordinances (with meats and drinks and divers washings) which were
imposed of old until a time of reformation. Through them the way into
the holy place was not made manifest, nor could be. True baptism is
_the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ_. This is a spiritual purification,
wrought through the might of Christ's resurrection. And the Apostle
describes it by the effect which it produces in the religious
condition and attitude of him who has experienced it. The sinner who
loves his sin dare not question his conscience. That witness would
pronounce for his condemnation. So he finds it best to lull it to
sleep, or perhaps deaden it altogether. But to him who, being risen
with Christ in faith, seeks those things that are above, who strives
to make himself spiritually purer day by day, there is no such dread.
Rather by constant questioning and self-examination he labours that
his conscience may be void of offence towards God and man. That man
not only dares, but knows it to be a most solemn duty, thus to purge
his conscience. So the effect of baptism is daily felt, and the
questioned soul thankfully bears witness to the active presence of the
Spirit, for the bestowal of which the Sacrament was the primal pledge.
Others have rendered ἐπερώτημα "an appeal," and have joined
it very closely with the words _toward God_. These have found in the
Apostle's explanation the recognition of that power to draw nigh unto
God which the purified conscience both feels, and feels the need of.
There are daily stumblings, the constant want of help; and through
Christ's resurrection the way is opened, a new and living way, into
the holiest, and the power is granted of appealing unto God, while the
sense of baptismal grace already bestowed gives confidence and
certainty that our petitions will be granted.
_Who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and
authorities and powers being made subject unto Him._ Now the Apostle
turns back to his main subject. The righteous who suffers for, and in,
his righteousness, may not only be a blessing to others, but may
himself find blessing. We dare only use the words which the Spirit
has supplied when we speak of Christ being perfected by what He
endured. But the Apostle to the Hebrews has a clear teaching. He
speaks of Christ as being "the effulgence of God's glory, and the very
image of His person" (Heb. i. 3). Yet he tells that, "though He was a
Son, He learned obedience by the things which He suffered, and became
thus the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him"
(Heb. v. 8). And he goes further, and teaches that this submission of
Christ to suffering was in harmony with the Divine character and
according to God's own purpose: "It became Him for whom are all
things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto
glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through
sufferings" (Heb. ii. 10). From all eternity Christ was perfect as the
Son of God, but He has suffered that He may be a perfect Mediator. Why
this was well-pleasing unto the Father it is not ours to know, nor can
we by searching find. But, the sufferings ended, He is crowned with
glory; He is exalted to the right hand of the Father; He is made Lord
of all. This He taught His disciples ere He sent them to baptize: "All
authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth" (Matt.
xxviii. 18). Having taken hold of the seed of Abraham and consented to
be made lower than the angels, He has now been set "far above all
principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that
is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come"
(Eph. i. 21). Thus does St. Paul teach even as St. Peter; and we may
believe, though we fail to grasp the manner thereof, that through His
humiliation our blessed Lord has been exalted, not only because He
receives for ever the praises of the redeemed, but because He has
wrought through His suffering that which was well-pleasing in the
sight of the Father.
The whole clause before us is worthy of notice for another reason. It
was doubtless written before our Gospels were in circulation, when the
life and work of Jesus were only published by the oral teaching of the
Apostles and their fellows; yet in a summary form it covers the whole
field of the Gospel story. Those to whom this Epistle was written had
been taught that Jesus was the Christ, had heard of His righteous life
among men, of His sufferings, death, and resurrection, had been taught
that afterwards He was taken up into heaven. They knew also that the
baptism by which they had been admitted into the Christian communion
was His ordinance and the appointed door into the Church which He
lived and died to build up among men. Thus, without the Gospels, we
have the Gospel in the Epistles, and a witness to the integrity of
that history of Christ's life which has come down to us in the
narratives of the Evangelists. And when all the contributions of the
Apostolic Epistles are put side by side, we may easily gather from
them that the history of Jesus which we have now is that which the
Church has possessed from the beginning of the Gospel.
XII
_THE LESSONS OF SUFFERING_
"Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye
yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in
the flesh hath ceased from sin; that ye no longer should live the
rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the
will of God. For the time past may suffice to have wrought the
desire of the Gentiles, and to have walked in lasciviousness,
lusts, winebibbings, revellings, carousings, and abominable
idolatries: wherein they think it strange that ye run not with
_them_ into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of _you_: who
shall give account to Him that is ready to judge the quick and
the dead. For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the
dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh,
but live according to God in the spirit."--1 PETER iv. 1-6.
It is always hard to swim against the stream; and if the effort be a
moral one, the difficulty is not lessened. These early Christians were
finding it so. For them there must have existed hardships of which
to-day we can have no experience, and form but an imperfect estimate.
If they lived among a Jewish population, these were sure to be
offended at the new faith. And when we remember the zeal for
persecution of a Saul of Tarsus, we can see that in many cases the
better the Jew, the more would he feel himself bound, if possible, to
exterminate the new doctrines. Among the heathen the lot of the
Christians was often worse. Did the people listen a while to the
teaching of the missionaries, yet so unstable were they that, as at
Lystra, to-day might see them stoning those whom yesterday they were
venerating as gods; and they could easily, by reason of their greater
numbers, bring the magistrates to inflict penalties even where the
multitude refrained from mob violence. The cry, "These men exceedingly
trouble our city" or "These who turn the world upside down are come
among us," was sure to find a ready audience; while the uproar and
violence which raged in a city like Ephesus, when Paul and his
companions preached there, shows how many temporal interests could be
banded together against the Christian cause. On individual believers,
not of the number of the preachers, the more violent attacks might not
fall; but to suffer in the flesh was the lot of most of them in St.
Peter's day. Hence the strong figure he employs to describe the
preparation they will need: _Arm ye yourselves_--make you ready, for
you are going forth to battle. St. Paul also, writing to Rome and
Corinth, uses the same figure: "Let us put on the armour of light,"
"the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left."
_Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves
also with the same mind._ Though some strokes of the foe will fall on
the flesh, the conflict is really a spiritual one. The suffering in
the body is to be sustained and surmounted by an inward power; the
armour of light and of righteousness is the equipment of the soul,
which panoply the Apostle here calls the mind of Christ. Now what is
the mind of Christ which can avail His struggling servants? The word
implies intention, purpose, resolution, that on which the heart is
set. Now the intention of Christ's life was to oppose and overcome all
that was evil, and to consecrate Himself to all good for the love of
His people. This latter He tells us in His parting prayer for his
disciples: "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves
also may be sanctified in truth" (John xvii. 19), while every action
of His life proclaims His determined enmity against sin. This brought
Him obloquy while He lived in the world, and in the end a shameful
death; but these things did not abate His hatred of sin, nor lessen
His love for sinners. For still into the city where He reigns there
shall in no wise enter anything that defileth (Rev. xxi. 27), though
to the faithful penitent "the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and he
that is athirst, let him come; he that will, let him take the water of
life freely" (Rev. xxii. 17).
Christ bare willingly all that was laid upon Him that He might bring
men unto God. This is the spirit, this the purpose, the intent, with
which His followers are to be actuated: to have the same strenuous
abhorrence of sin, the same devotion in themselves to goodness, which
shall make them inflexible, however fiercely they may be assailed. Let
them only make the resolve, and power shall be bestowed to strengthen
them. He who says, "Arm yourselves," supplies the weapons when His
servants need them. Jesus Himself found them ready when the tempter
came, and drew them in all their keenness and strength from the Divine
armoury. Satan comes to others as he came to Christ, and will make
them flinch and waver, if he can. At times he offers attractive baits;
at times he brings fear to his aid. But, in whatever shape he comes or
sends his agents, let them but cling to the mind of Christ, and they
shall, like Him, say triumphantly, "Get thee behind me, Satan."
_For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin._ God
intends it to be so, and the earnest Christian strives with all his
might that it may be so. To help men God sends them sufferings, and
intends them to have a moral effect on the life. They are not penal;
they are the discipline of perfect love desiring that men should be
held back from straying. Men cannot always see the purposes of God at
first, and are prone to bewail their lot. But here and there a saint
of old has left his testimony. One of the later psalmists had
discovered the blessedness of God-sent trials: "Before I was afflicted
I went astray; but now I observe Thy word"; and, in thankful
acknowledgment of the love which sent the blows, he adds, "It is good
for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn Thy statutes"
(Psalm cxix. 67, 71). Hezekiah had learnt the lesson, though it
brought him close to the gates of the grave; but he testifies,
"Behold, it was for my peace that I had great bitterness.... Thou hast
cast all my sins behind Thy back" (Isa. xxxviii. 17). God had blotted
out the evil record, that he who had suffered in the flesh might cease
from sin. It is good for us thus to recognise that God's dispensations
are for our correction and teaching, and that without them we should
have been verily desolate, left to choose our own way, which would
surely have been evil; and though we cannot cease from sin while we
are in the flesh, God's mercy places the ideal state before us--_He
that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin_--that we may be
strengthened, nevermore to submit ourselves to the yoke of wickedness.
How shall he that is dead to sin live any longer therein? Live therein
he cannot. Of that old man within him he will have no resurrection,
for though the motions, the promptings to evil, are there, the love of
evil is slain by the greater love of Christ.
_That ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to
the lusts of men, but to the will of God._ Christians must live out
their lives till God calls them, and for the rest of their time in the
flesh they will be among their wonted surroundings. Just as Christian
slaves must abide with their masters, and Christian wives continue
with their husbands, so each several believer must do his duty where
God has placed him. But because he is a believer it will be done in a
different spirit. He is daily cutting himself away from what the world
counts for life; he has begun to live in the Spirit, and the natural
man is weakened day by day; he knows that what is born of the flesh is
flesh, and bears the taint of sin: so he refuses to follow where it
would lead him. Men often plead for evil habits that they are natural,
forgetting that "natural" thus used means human, corrupt nature. The
birth of the Spirit transforms this nature, and the renewed man goes
about his worldly life with a new motive, new purposes. He must follow
his lawful calling like other folks, but the sense of his pilgrimage
makes him to differ; he is longing to depart, and holds himself in
constant readiness. Worldly men live as though they were rooted here
and would never be moved. "Their inward thought is that their houses
shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-places to all generations;
they call their lands after their own names" (Psalm xlix. 11). To the
servant of Christ life wears another aspect. He is content to live on,
for God so wills it, and has work for him to do. To continue in the
flesh may be, as it was to St. Paul, the fruit of his labour. And he
welcomes this owning of his work, and will spend his powers in like
service. Yet, with the Apostle, he has ever "the desire to depart and
be with Christ, for it is very far better" (Phil. i. 23).
And as he strives to fulfil God's intent by crucifying the old man and
ceasing from sin, the Christian rejoices in a growing sense of
freedom. To follow the lusts of men was to serve many and hard
taskmasters. Riches, fame, luxury, sensual indulgences, riotous
living, are all keen to win new slaves, and paint their lures in the
most attractive colours; and one appetite will make itself the ally of
another, lust hard by greed, so that the chains of him who takes
service with them are riveted many times over, and difficult, often
impossible, to be cast off. But the will of God is one: "One is your
Master"; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart"; "And all ye are
brethren"; "Love your neighbour as yourself." Then shall you enter
into life. And the life of this promise is not that fragment of time
which remains to men in the flesh, but that unending after-life where
the natural body shall be exchanged for a spiritual body, and death be
swallowed up in victory.
_For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the
Gentiles._ The Apostle here seems to be addressing the Jews who,
living among the Gentiles, had, like their forefathers in Canaan,
learned their works. The nation was not so prone to fall away into
heathendom after the Captivity; yet some of them in the dispersion,
like Samson when he went down unto the Philistines, may have been
captured and blinded and made to serve. The proximity of evil is
infectious. To the Gentile converts St. Peter speaks elsewhere as
having been slaves to their lusts in ignorance (i. 14). But whether
Jew or Gentile, when they had once tasted the joy of this purer
service, this law of obedience which made them truly free, they would
be strengthened to suffer in the flesh rather than fall back upon
their former life. The time would seem enough, far more than enough,
to have been thus defiled. All was God's; all that remained must be
given to Him with strenuous devotion.