CHAPTER 12 THE LESSONS OF SUFFERING 1 Peter 4:1 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 today we can have no experience, and form b... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 13 CHRISTIAN SERVICE FOR GOD'S GLORY 1 Peter 4:7 "BUT the end of all things is at hand." Well-nigh two thousand years have passed away since the Apostle wrote these words. What are we to think of the teaching they convey? For it is not St. Peter's teaching only. Those who labored with him... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 14 THE BELIEVER'S DOUBLE JOY 1 Peter 4:12 AFTER the benediction in 1 Peter 4:11, we might have supposed that the exhortations of the Apostle were ended. But he now proceeds to make general application of the lessons which above 1 Peter 2:18 he had confined to a particular class: the Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 15 THE RIGHTEOUS HAVE JUDGMENT HERE 1 Peter 4:15 THE Apostle now goes one step farther in his exhortations. The brethren are suffering for Christ's cause, and may draw comfort from Christ's example, and be encouraged to patience under their persecutions. But these very sufferings, he woul... [ Continue Reading ]