What Had Become of Peter?

What Had Become of Peter?

(No. 3118)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1908.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT, NEWINGTON.

"Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers
about what had become of Peter." Acts 12:18.

WE can very well understand that there would be great excitement. It
was the most improbable thing in the world that Peter should escape
from custody. In the innermost dungeon, securely chained, watched by a
fourfold guard, with no powerful friends outside to attempt a
rescue–it was marvelous that, in the morning, the bird had flown! The
prison doors were closed and the guards in their places, but Peter,
where was he? We marvel not that "there was no small stir among the
soldiers about what had become of Peter."

We will use this striking narrative as an illustration–what if we make
it an allegory? The sinner fast bound in his sin is, by the mercy of
God, set free and brought out from his spiritual prison into the
streets of the New Jerusalem. And then there is no small stir among his
old companions–what has become of him? Many questions are asked and
many strange answers are given. They cannot understand it. The vain
world esteems it strange–it admires much–but hates the change. The
carnal mind cannot understand conversion. There is "no small stir about
what has become of Peter."

We shall, first of all, dwell a little upon the escape of Peter as
illustrating the salvation of certain sinners. Then upon the consequent
stir about it And then upon the quiet conduct of the man who is the
object of all this stir–"What had become of Peter?"

I. First, then, THE IMPROBABLE EVENT.

Peter was in prison. It was a most unlikely thing that he should come
forth from Herod's jail, but it is a far more unlikely thing that
sinners should be set free from the dungeons of sin! For the iron gate
which opened into the city to turn upon its hinges of its own accord
was amazing, but for a sinful heart to loathe its sin is stranger by
far! Who can escape from the grasp of sin? No person is more terribly
shut up than is the sinner in the prison of original depravity! It is
not merely around us, but in us, compassing our path whether we lie
down or rise up! Stronger than granite walls and bars of iron are the
forces of evil. Evil has penetrated our souls. It has become part of
ourselves. Where shall we fly from its presence, or how shall we escape
from its power? Vain are the wings of the morning–they cannot enable
us to fly from our own selves.

O marvelous thing, that the Ethiopian should escape from his blackness
and the leopard from his spots! There are some men in whom evil is more
than ordinarily conspicuous. They have done violence to conscience.
They have quenched, as far as possible, the inner Light of God. They
have defied the customs of society, they have resolved to sin at random
and they do so. What a miracle it is that such as these should be
emancipated from the slavery they choose so eagerly– that these whose
feet are set fast in the stocks of vice, in the innermost dungeon of
transgression, should ever be set at liberty! And yet how often this
has happened! The foundations of the prison have been shaken and the
prisoner's bands have been loosed. The saints of God can, all of them,
bless Him for setting them at liberty from sin. The snare is broken and
they have escaped! Yes, and many of them can praise Him for deliverance
from very great sins, black sins, iron sins, sins which had entered
into their souls and held their spirits captive! No man can set another
man free from iniquity, nor can any man burst down his own prison
doors. No Samson is strong enough for that–but there is One–"mighty
to save," who has come to proclaim liberty to the captives of sin and
the opening of the prison to them that are bound by iniquity! And He
has so proclaimed it that many of us are now free through His Grace. O
that many others, now shut up in the spiritual Bastille, may be set
free!

But, besides being in prison, Peter was in the dark. All the lamps had
been quenched for the night in his miserable place of confinement. Such
is the estate, spiritually, of every unconverted sinner–he is in the
dark–he does not know Christ, nor apprehend his own condition, nor
comprehend eternal realities. What a shade of darkness is he in who has
never heard the Gospel! But, alas, there are some who have heard it,
often heard it, and yet their eyes are held so that they cannot see the
light and they are as badly in the dark as those upon whom the lamp has
never shone! Does it not seem impossible to convert such darkened ones?
You have held up, as it were, the very sun in the heavens before their
eyes, while you have preached salvation by Christ, and yet so blind are
they that they have seen nothing! Can these blind eyes see? Can these
prisoners of midnight escape from the prison through its long corridors
and winding passages? The thousands in this city who never attend the
House of prayer–is it possible to get at them? Can the Grace of God
ever come to them? Yes, we bless God that as the angel came into
Peter's prison and brought a light with him, so the Spirit can come
into the prison of man's sin and bring heavenly illumination with Him
and then he will see, in a moment, the Truth of God as it is in Jesus
which he never knew before! Glory be to God, He can lead the blinded
mind in today's light and give it eyes to see and a heart to love the
Divine Truth! We can testify of this, for so has God worked upon
us–and why should He not thus work upon others? But it is a great
marvel–and when it is performed, there is "no small stir."

Peter's case, in the third place, had another mark of hopelessness
about it. He was in prison. He was in the dark and he was asleep. How
can you lead a man out of prison who is sound asleep? If you cannot
enter and awaken him, what can you do for him? Suppose the doors were
opened and the chains were snapped, yet if he remained asleep, how
could he escape? We find that the angel smote Peter on the side. I
daresay it was a hard blow, but it was a kind one. Oh, how I wish the
Spirit of God would smite some sleeping sinner on the side at this
moment! I would not mind how sharp or cutting the blow might be for the
time being if it made him start up and say, "How can I escape from this
dreadful cell of sin?" My Brothers and Sisters, how difficult it is to
awaken some minds from their indifference! The most indifferent people
in this world are those who have prospered in business for a long time
without a break–they are accumulating money as fast as they can count
it and they have not time to think about eternal things! Another very
hardened class consists of those who have enjoyed good health for a
long time and have scarcely known an ache or a pain. They do not think
about eternity. It is a great blessing to enjoy health, but it is also
a great blessing to suffer sickness, for it is often the means of
awakening the slumbering heart! Many dream that because things go
smoothly with them, they are all right. And yet they are peculiarly in
danger. O Spirit of the living God, smite them on the side! I have
known this smiting come to some by a sermon, to others by the personal
remark of a friend, to others by the death of a companion, or by the
loss of a dear child, or by great trouble and need. Well, if your souls
are saved, you will not, in later days, be sorry for the awakening
trouble which helped to bring you to the Savior! Yes, the most
indifferent have been awakened–and why should it not be so again? The
Church prayed for Peter and those prayers brought the angel to awaken
him–let us pray for indifferent sons and careless daughters! Let us
pray for the godless, Christless population around us and God's Spirit
will yet awaken them and make them cry with a bitter cry, "Lord, save
us, or we perish!"

There was further difficulty about Peter's case. He was in the prison,
in the dark, asleep and he was also chained. Each hand was fastened to
a soldier's hand. How could he possibly escape? And herein is the
difficulty with some sinners–they cannot leave their old companions.
Suppose the happy young man should propose to think about religion?
Why, this very night he would be ridiculed for it! Suppose he
endeavored to walk in the ways of holiness–is there not chained to his
left hand an unholy companion? It may be some unchaste connection has
been made–how shall he break away from it? Let a man be joined to an
ungodly woman, or let a woman have once given herself up to an unholy
alliance and how hard it is to set them free! Yet Peter did come out of
prison though he was chained to his guards–and Christ can save a
sinner though he is bound hand and foot by his intimate association
with other sinners as bad as himself! It seems impossible that he
should be set at liberty, but nothing is impossible with God. There may
be some here who have had to snap many an old connection and get rid of
many an evil association, but by Divine Grace it has been done! We give
God the Glory of it and do not wonder at the "stir" which it has made!

In addition to all this, Peter was not only chained, but he was guarded
by soldiers placed outside the prison. And, oh, how some sinners, whom
God means to bless, are similarly guarded! The devil seems to have an
inkling that God will save them one day and, therefore, he watches
them. Fearful lest by any means they should escape out of his hands, he
guards them day and night. When men receive a tender conscience, or
have their minds a little awakened, Satan will not

trust them to enter the House of Prayer, or if they do, he comes with
them and distracts their attention by vain thoughts or fierce
temptations! Or if they are able to hear the sermon attentively, he
will meet them outside and try to steal away the good seed from their
hearts. He will assail the man with temptation here and temptation
there–he will assault him through some chosen instrument, and then
again by another messenger of a like character so that if by any means
he may keep him from being saved!

But when the Lord means to save, He makes short work of the guards, the
prison, the darkness, the chains, the devil and all his allies! If the
Lord means to save you, Man, Woman–whoever you are–He will overcome
your old master and his guards. The Lord's eternal will shall assuredly
overcome your will, the will of Satan, the lusts of the flesh and your
own resolves! And although you may have made a league with death and a
covenant with Hell, yet if the Eternal Jehovah wills it, He can break
your covenant, set you free and lead you a captive at the wheels of His
chariot of fire–for with God, nothing is impossible!

Once more, Peter was, in addition to all this, on the eve of death. It
was his last night, the night before his execution. It is a very sweet
thing to think of Peter sleeping. It reminds one of the saints whom we
read of in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. When the jailer's wife came in the
morning to call him, he was so sweetly asleep that she had to shake him
to awaken him. It was a strange thing to disturb a man and say, "It is
time to get up and be burnt!" But he slept as sweetly as though he
would be married that morning instead of meeting a cruel death! God can
give His people the greatest peace in the most disturbing times. So
Peter slept. But that is not the point I wish to dwell upon. The next
morning he was to die, but God would not have him die. Perhaps someone
who hears or reads these words is despairing–so despairing that he is
ready to lay violent hands upon himself or, perhaps, there is one so
sick that if the Lord does not appear to him very soon, it will be too
late. Blessed be God, He never leaves His elect to perish in sin! He
never is before His time, but He never is behind it. He comes in at the
last moment and when it seems as though eternal destruction would
swallow up His chosen one, He stretches out His hand and achieves His
purpose! May this remark be a message from God to someone! Though you
have gone far in sin and are near your end, yet the Lord, who can do
anything and everything, may come to you and save you even now, at the
eleventh hour–and then there will be a "stir" indeed!

We have thus remarked upon a whole series of improbabilities, but I
have noticed that it is often the most unlikely people who are saved.
There are many of whom I thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before
me," and I have been disappointed in them. And there are many others,
who came to hear out of curiosity, and were the least likely to be
impressed, who, nevertheless, have been met with by Sovereign Grace.
Does not this encourage you to say, "Why should not the Lord meet with
me?" Ah, dear Soul, why not? And what is more, He will regard you if
you listen to this word of His, "He who believes on the Son has
everlasting life." To believe on Jesus Christ is simply to trust Him.
Then do you trust Him? For if you do trust your guilty soul entirely on
Jesus, He has met with you and you are saved now. Go and sin no
more–your sins, which are many, are forgiven you! That is salvation in
a nutshell. Whoever reposes his trust in Jesus is saved. God grant such
faith to you!

II. Secondly, in consequence of this great event, THERE WAS NO SMALL
STIR, "what had become of Peter?" When the Lord saves an unlikely
individual, there is sure to be a stir about it.

The text says, "There was no small stir among the soldiers. "So,
generally, the stir about a sinner begins among his old companions.
"What has become of Peter? I thought he would have met us tonight at
our drinking spot. What has become of Peter? We were going to the
theater together. What has become of Peter? We intended to have a jolly
time of it at the horse races. What has become of Peter? We had agreed
to go to the dancing saloon together." Those who were his old
companions say, "We did not believe he would ever have been made
religious. He'll never make a saint! We'll fetch him back. He has got
among those canting Methodists, but we'll make it too hot for him. We
will jest at him and jeer at him till he can't stand it–and if that
does not do, we will threaten him–cast doubts on his creed and set
fresh temptations before him." Ah, but if God has set him free from
sin, he is free, indeed, and you will never lead him back to prison
again! When you meet him, you will find him a new man–and you will be
glad to get away from him, for he will prove too strong for you! Often
when a man's conversion is thorough, not only is he rejoiced to get
away from his old companions, but his old companions are wonderfully
glad to keep clear of him! They do not like his new manner. He is so
strange a man to what he was before. They say, "What has become of
Peter? His ways are not ours. What has happened to

him?" If a dog were suddenly turned into an angel, the other dogs would
be puzzled–the whole kennel would take to howling at him!

But after the soldiers came Herod. Herod wondered, "What has become of
Peter? Did I not put 16 men to guard him? Did I not provide heavy
chains for his feet? Did I not chain him wrist to wrist to a soldier?
Did I not put him in the innermost ward of the prison? What has become
of Peter?" Herod grew very angry. He was delighted to have killed
James, and he meant to have killed Peter and, therefore, he cried, in
great chagrin, "What has become of Peter?" What a sight it would be to
see the devil when he has lost some chosen sinner, when he hears the
man who once could swear, beginning to pray, when he beholds the heart
that once was hard as adamant beginning to melt! I think I hear him say
to himself, "What has become of Peter? Another of my servants has
deserted me! Another of my choice followers has yielded to my foe!
What? Has Christ taken another lamb from between the jaws of the lion?
Will He leave me none? Shall I have no soldiers? Shall none of my black
guard be left to me? Am I to be entirely deserted? What has become of
Peter?" Oh, it is a glorious thing to cause a howling through the
infernal regions and to set devils biting their tongues because poor
sinners have snapped their chains! Pray that as the prayers of the
Church then set Peter free, and made Herod angry, so the prayers of the
Church now may set sinners free and put the devil to shame!

But we must not forget the Jews. They had expected to see Peter die and
when they found that they would have to eat the Passover with the
bitter herb of Peter's escape from prison, they began to say to one
another, "What has become of Peter?" They could not understand his
escape. Many in these days are like the Jews. They are outsiders–they
do not associate with sinners in their grosser vices, but they look on.
Whenever they hear of a man converted, if he is indeed really changed,
they say, "What has happened to him? We don't understand him!" They put
him down as a fanatical fool. Their maxim is that if you like to go to
a place of worship, all well and good. And if you like to have a
religion, all well and good. But don't make a fuss about it! Don't get
carried off your legs by it–keep it to yourself and be quiet about it.
They think that to be lukewarm is the finest condition of mind–whereas
the Savior has said, "Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I will spew you out of My mouth." When a man becomes genuinely
converted, especially if he has been a notorious sinner, these
irreligious religious people cry out, "What has become of Peter?" The
Lord grant that there may be much of this outcry in these days!

And surely, also, there was no small stir among God's own people. There
was a great stir in that Prayer Meeting when Rhoda went back and said,
"There's Peter at the gate!" "Never, never!" "But I know his voice. He
has been here many times. I can't be mistaken!" "Ah," said one, "it may
be his ghost–it can't be Peter himself. It is impossible!" So,
sometimes, when a sinner who has been very notoriously evil, has been
converted, after he had been the subject of many prayers, God's people
will say, "What? Thatman converted? It cannot be!" When Paul, who had
persecuted the Church, was brought to be a Christian, it was very hard
to make the disciples believe it. They had heard by many of this man–
how he had put the saints to death–surely he could not have become a
disciple of Christ! There was no small stir what had become of Paul in
those days! Christians could hardly think that his conversion was
genuine. I pray the Lord, in these times, to convert some very terrible
opposer of His Gospel, some notorious enemy of the Truth of God. I pray
that some of those great philosophers of this learned age who are
always startling us with new absurdities, may be made to feel the power
of the Sovereign Grace of God! I do not know why they should not. Let
us pray for it, and it will come to pass! Let us ask the Lord to save
even those who brandish their silly learning in the face of the Eternal
Wisdom, and they may yet be brought down to sit humbly at the Savior's
feet, and then there will be no small stir in the Church! "What has
become of Professor So-and-So?" O Master, for Your own Glory's sake,
grant that it may be done!

III. The last point is this–THE QUIET CONDUCT OF THE MAN ABOUT WHOM
THERE WAS ALL THIS STIR.

What had become of Peter? He was out of prison. Where was he? I will
tell you. In the first place, he had gone to a

Prayer Meeting. [See Sermon #1247, Volume 21–THE SPECIAL PRAYER
MEETING] It is a very good sign that a man has been really awakened
when he goes uninvited to a Prayer Meeting. I love to see a stranger
come stealing in and sit in a corner where God's people are met for
supplication. Any hypocrite may come to worship on a Sunday, but it is
not every hypocrite who will come to the meeting for prayer! Anybody
will come to listen to a sermon, but it is not everybody who will draw
near to God in prayer. Surely, when the Prayer Meeting comes to be
loved, it is good and hopeful evidence. What has become of Peter? He is
not at the gin-

palace. What has become of Peter? He is not at the races. What has
become of Peter? He is not with his old associates at the skittle
ground. No, but he is drawing near to God where humble Believers are
crying to the Most High for a blessing!

The next thing was, he joined the Christians. I do not say that Peter
had not done so before, but on this occasion, he went to the place
where the Christians were and sat down with them. So that sinner whom
God sets free from sin straightway flies to his own company. "Birds of
a feather flock together," and those who bear the true feather of the
white dove and have been washed in Christ's blood, "fly as a cloud, and
as doves to their windows." You do not love Christ if you do not love
His people. If you love the Lord who has saved you, you will love the
people whom the Lord has saved and you will, like Peter, find your
Brothers and Sisters and join with them. See then, you who have been
making a stir about what has become of the new convert, we have told
you where he is! He has joined the Church of God. He is going to be
baptized and he is following Christ through evil report and good
report. What do you say to that?

I will tell you yet further what has become of Peter. He has began to
tell his experience at a Church Meeting. Peter did that very soon. He
beckoned with his hand and told them how the Lord had brought him out
of the prison. What a delight it is to see a man who was just now black
in the mouth with blasphemy, stand up and bless the Lord for what His
Grace has done for him! "I would think it strange," says one, "if that
ever happened to me." My dear Hearer, I would not think it strange, but
would bless God for it! God grant that it may happen and that I may
hear of it! No experience in the world is so sweet as that of a sinner
who has been in captivity to evil and has been brought out with a high
hand and an outstretched arm. An uncommon sinner who has been
remarkably converted tells a more than ordinarily encouraging story in
our Church Meetings and we delight in such glad tidings! That is what
had become of Peter.

And then, lastly, it was not long before Peter was preaching the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. And oh, you who have been wondering what has become of
some ungodly companions of yours, I would not be surprised if you hear
them telling others what God has done for their souls! I would like to
have heard John Newton's first sermon after he had been a slave trader
with his life full of all manner of villainy–and God had met with him
in mercy. Oh, it must have been a sweet sermon, wet with tears! I will
be bound to say that there were no sleepy hearers. He would talk in a
way that would melt others' hearts because his own was melted! I would
like to have heard John Bunyan, though under a hedge, preaching the
Gospel of Jesus, while he told what God had done for a drunken tinker,
and how He had washed him in the precious blood of Jesus and saved him!
Those who know what sin is and what the Savior has saved them from, can
speak "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." Peter could say,
"I was in prison, but I gained my liberty and it was the work of God."
He could bear good testimony to what God has done for him!

I hold up the blood-red standard at this time. I am a recruiting
sergeant and I want, in God's name, to enlist fresh soldiers beneath
the standard of the Cross! "Whom will you enlist?" asks one. "What must
their characters be?" They must be guilty! I will have nothing to do
with the righteous! The Savior did not come to save those who are not
sinful– He came to save sinners! I looked out of my window last
winter, when it had been raining for several months almost incessantly,
and I saw a man with a garden hose watering plants. And I looked at him
again and again, and to this moment I cannot understand what he was
doing! It did seem to me an extraordinary thing that a man should be
watering a garden when the garden had been watered by the rain for a
hundred days or so with scarcely a pause! Now, I am not going to water
you who are already dripping with your own self-righteousness. No, no,
what need have you of Grace? Christ did not come to save you good
people! You must get to Heaven how you can, on your own account. He has
come to wash the filthy and heal the sick–and oh, you filthy ones,
before you I hold up the Gospel banner and say again, "Who will enlist
beneath it?" If you will, the great Captain of Salvation will take your
guilt away and cast your sins into the depths of the sea–and make you
new creatures through the power of His Spirit.

"Well," says one, "If I am enlisted, and become a new creature, what
shall I do?" I will not say what you shall do, but if the Lord saves
you, you will love Him so much that nothing will be too hard, or too
heavy, or too difficult for you! You will not need driving, if you once
receive His great salvation–you will be for doing more than you can
and you will pray for more Grace and strength to attempt yet greater
things for His name's sake. A man who has had much forgiven, what will
he not attempt for the service and Glory of Him who has forgiven him?
May I be fortunate enough to enlist beneath the Savior's banner some
black offender! That is the man for Christ's service! That is the man
who will sound out His name more sweetly than anybody else! That is the
man who will be afraid of no one! That is the man who will truly know
the power of the Gospel of Christ! Oh, that the Lord would bring such
men among us, for we need them in these days–men who will come right
out, without doubt, fear, or quitting, facing all criticisms, defying
all opinions and each one saying, "Sinners, Christ can save you, for He
saved me! I was a drunkard and a thief, but God has forgiven and
cleansed, and washed me, and I know the power of His salvation!" Pray,
members of the Church, that both among men and women there may be many
such conversions and that throughout this city of London there may be
no small stir, "What has become of Peter," and may that stir be to the
praise and Glory of God! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 2 PETER 1.

Verse 1. Simon Peter, a servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to them
that have obtained like precious faith with us through the
righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ Peter here uses both
his names–Simon or Simeon, which was his first name and signifies,
"hearing with acceptance." And happy are they who have the hearing ear
and the receptive heart. And then there is what I may call his
Christian name, the name which Christ gave him, Petros, or Cephas, a
rock or stone. Those who learn to hear well, since faith comes by
hearing, may hope to obtain even greater stability of character than
Peter had. Observe that Peter calls himself, "a servant of Christ."
There is no higher honor than to be a servant of God. "To serve God is
to reign." An ancient philosopher was the author of that maxim and
Christianity fully endorses it. He is a true king who is a servant of
God. In this respect, all Believers are on a level with Peter, but here
is his distinguishing title, "an Apostle of Jesus Christ," a sent one,
one who had seen the Lord and who could bear personal testimony to the
fact of His existence, His death and His Resurrection. Hence the
Apostleship has ceased, since there are no longer any who lived in our
Lord's days upon the earth. Mark the reason why this Epistle, like the
first, is called "the general Epistle of Peter," since it is addressed,
not to any one Church, as Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, but to all
saints. Not to the Hebrews alone, but to the Gentiles as well. It is a
general Epistle, addressed to all those who have "obtained like
precious faith." These words were written by the Apostle Peter many
centuries ago, yet they come to us as fresh as if he had written them
but yesterday! And may God grant us Grace to profit from them as they
are read by us today! After the Apostle's titles comes the salutation
of his Epistle.

2-5. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of
God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His Divine power has given
unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue: whereby are
given unto us exceedingly great andprecious promises: that by these you
might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust And beside this–"Since it is God
who, by His Divine energy, has made you partakers of the Divine Nature,
see that you use your Grace-given energy–rest not idly upon your oars
because the tide of Grace carries your ship onward."

5. Giving all diligence. It is not man's effort that saves him, but on
the other hand, Grace saves no man to make him like a log of wood or a
block of stone. Grace makes man active! God has been diligently at work
with you–now you must diligently work together with Him.

5-7. 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. As you have seen the mason take up first one stone
and then another, and then gradually build the house, so are you
Christians to take first one virtue and then another, and then another,
and to pile up these stones of Grace one upon the other until you have
built a palace for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

Faith, of course, comes first, because faith is the foundation of all
the Graces, and there can be no true Grace where there is no true
faith. Then "add to your faith virtue," which should have been
translated, "courage." True courage is a very great blessing, indeed,
to the Christian–without it how will he be able to face his foes? "And
to courage knowledge," for courage without knowledge would be foolish
rashness, which would lead you to the cannon's mouth when there was
nothing to be gained by flinging away your life.

"And to knowledge temperance," for there are some who no sooner get
knowledge than they are carried away with the new Doctrine which they
have learned and become like intoxicated men, for it is possible to be
intoxicated even with the Truth of God! Happy is that Christian who has
temperance with his knowledge who, while holding one Doctrine, does not
push that to the extreme, but learns to hold other Doctrines in due
conformity with it. "And to temperance

patience," or endurance, so that we are able to endure the "trial of
cruel mocking" or sharp pains, or fierce persecutions, or the usual
afflictions of this life. He is a poor Christian who has no power of
endurance. A true Christian must "endure hardness as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ."

"And to endurance godliness"–having a constant respect to God in all
our ways, living to God and living like God as far as the finite can be
like the Infinite. "And to godliness brotherly kindness." O dear
Friends, let us be very kind to those who are our Brothers and Sisters
in Christ Jesus! Let the ties of Christian kinship unite us in true
brotherhood to each other. "And to brotherly kindness charity." Let us
have love to all men, though especially to the household of faith.

8. For if these things are in you, and abound, they make you that you
shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord
Jesus Christ I am sure you do not wish to be barren. I cannot imagine
that any of you will be content to be unfruitful, so seek after all
these virtues and may God help you to give diligence to the attainment
of them.

9, 10. But he that lacks these things is blind, and cannot see afar
off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Therefore
the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election
sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall. He who is
diligent in seeking these Graces is kept from falling. Every Christian
is safe from a final fall, but he is not safe from a foul fall unless
he is kept by Grace.

11. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the
everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In this life
you shall enjoy all the privileges of the inheritors of the Kingdom of
Heaven. And in the life to come you shall go into the harbor of eternal
peace like a ship with all her sails full, speeding before a favorable
wind– not as one that struggles into harbor–

"Tempest-tossed, and half a wreck."

12. Therefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance
of these things, though you know them, and are established in the
present truth. We are not merely to preach new Truths of God which
people do not know, but we are also to preach the old Truths with which
they are familiar. The Doctrines in which they are well established are
still to be proclaimed to them. Every wise preacher brings forth from
the treasury of Truth things both new and old–new, that the hearers
may learn more than they knew before–old, that they may know and
practice better that which they do already know in part.

13. 14. Yes, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to
stir you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that shortly Imust
put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed
me. In the last chapter of the Gospel according to John, it is recorded
how Christ prophesied concerning the death of Peter, that when he was
old, he would stretch forth his hands and another should gird him, and
carry him where he would not. The Evangelist adds, "This spoke He,
signifying by what death he [Peter] should glorify God." The prospect
of crucifixion was thus always before Peter's mind–and knowing what
was to happen to him–he was not alarmed, but was rather quickened to
greater diligence in stirring up the saints to make their calling and
election sure. Hear behind you, O Christian, the chariot wheels of your
Lord! Hear behind you the whizzing of the arrow of Death and let this
quicken your pace! Work while it is called today, for the sun even now
touches the horizon and the night comes when no man can work. If we
knew how short a time we have to live, how much more earnest, how much
more diligent would we be! Let us be up and doing! "Let us not sleep,
as do others, but let us watch and be sober," working diligently until
the Lord comes, or calls us Home to Himself.

15-18. Moreover I will endeavor that you may be able after my decease
to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed
cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
For He received from God the Father honor and Glory, when there came
such a voice to Him from the excellent Glory, This is My Beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from Heaven we
heard, when we were with Him in the Holy Mount.Peter and James and John
were with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration and Peter here bears
his witness that they were not deceived when they bowed down before
Christ and worshipped Him as Lord, nor were they deluded in expecting
His coming and believing in His power.

19, 20. We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do
well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place,
until the day dawns and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this
first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private
interpretation.Even the Prophets themselves did not always know the
full meaning of their own prophecies. Many prophecies have never been
completely understood until they have been fulfilled. This passage also
appears to me to mean that no prophecy is to be restricted to any one
event, so as to say, "This prophecy has been entirely fulfilled."

21. For the prophecy came not in old times by the will of man: but holy
men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.So that they
sometimes spoke what they did not themselves understand. The prophecy
carried its own key within itself and the key could not be found until
the prophecy was fulfilled. I believe that the prophesies in the
Revelation and in the books of Daniel and Ezekiel are very much of this
character, and that while it is quite right to watch for and expect the
coming of the Lord, we shall spend our time more profitably in
preaching the Doctrines of the Gospel than in meditating upon the
mysterious prophecies of the Word. They will be understood when they
are fulfilled, but we do not think they will be fully understood before
that time.