Practical Commentary of 1 Peter Volume 2, Commentary · Chapter 2 · Verse 3
Verses 4, 5.
4. Wherein they think it strange, that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.
5. Who shall give account to him that is ready, to judge the quick and the dead.
GRace until it reach home and end in glory, is still in conflict, a restless party within and without, the whole World against it; it is a stranger here, and is accounted and used so, they think it strange that you run not with them, and they speak evil of you, these wondring thoughts they vent in reproaching words.
In these two verses we have these three things (1.) The Christians opposite course to the World. (2.) Their opposite thoughts and speeches of this course. (3.) The supream and final Judgement of both.
1. The opposite course in that, They run to excesses of riot. 2. You run not with them.
foreign] Ri…t or luxury, though all natural Men, are not in the grossest kind guilty of this, yet they are all of them some way truly riotous or luxurious, lavishing away themselves, and their days upon the poor perishing delights of sin, each according to his own palate and humour; as all persons t…at are riotous in the common sense of it, gluttons or drunkards, do not love the same kind of meats or drink, but have several relishes and appetites; yet agree in the nature of the sin, so the notion enlarged after that same manner to the different custome of corrupt nature, takes in all the ways of sin; some glutting in, and continually drunk with pleasures and carnal enjoyments, others with the cares of this life, which our Saviour reckons with surfeiting and drunkenness as being a kind of it, and surcharging the heart as they do, as there he expresses it, take h…ed to your selves lest at any time, Luk. 21. 34.your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life. Whatsoever it is that draws away the heart from God, that, how plausible soever, doth debauch and destroy us; we spend and undo our selves upon it as the word foreign signifies, making havock of all. And the other word foreign profusion and dissolute lavishing, pouring out the affections upon vanity; it is scattered and defiled as water spilt on the ground that cannot be cleansed, nor gathered up again, and it passes all our skill and strength indeed to recover and recollect our hearts for God; only he can do it for himself, he that made it can gather it, and cleanse it, and …ake it new, and unite it to himself. Oh! what a scatter'd broken unstable thing is the carnal heart, till it be changed; falling in love with every gay folly it meets withal, and running out to rest profusely upon things like its vain self, that suit and agree with it, and serve its Lusts, can dream and muse upon these long enough, any thing that …eeds the earthliness or pride of it, can be prodigal of hours, and let …ut floods of thoughts where a little is too much, but bounded and pincht where all are too little; hath not one fixed thought in a whole day to spare for God.
And truly this runni…g out of the heart is a continual drunkeness and madness, is not capable of reason, will not be stopt in its current by any perswasion; it is mad upon its Idols, as the Prophet speaks. You may as well speak to a River in its course and bid it stay, as speak to an impenitent sinner in the course of his iniquity; and all the other means you can use, is but as the putting of your finger to a rapid stream to stay it; but there is a hand can both stop and turn the most impetuous torrent of the Heart, be it even of a King, that will least endure any other controulment.
Now as the ungodly World naturally moves to this profusion, with a strong and swift motion runs to it, so it runs together to it, and that makes the current both the stronger and swifter, as a number of Brooks, falling into one main Channel make a mighty stream; and every man naturally is in his birth and the course of his li…e, just as a Brook, that of it self is carried to that stream of sin that is in the World, and then falling into it, is carried rapidly along with it. And if every sinner, taken a part, be so inconvertible by all created Power, how much more harder a task is a publick Reformation, and turning a Land from its course of wickedness; all that is set to dam up their way, doth at the best but stay them a little, and they swell, and rise, and run over with a noise more violently than if they had not been stopt; thus we find outward restraints prove, and the very publick Judgements of God on us may have made a little interruption, but upon the abatement of them, the course of sin in all kinds seems to be now more fierce, as it were to regain the time lost in that constrain'd forbearance: so that we see the need of much prayer to intreat his powerful hand, that can turn the course of Iordan, that he would work not a temporary, but an abiding change of the course of this Land, and cause many Souls to look upon Jesus Christ, and flow into him; as the word is, Ps. 34 5.
This is their course, but you run not with them. The Godly a small and weak company, and yet run counter to the grand Torrent of the World, just against them: and there is a Spirit within them, whence that their contrary motion flows, and a Spirit strong enough to maintain it in them against all the crowd and combin…d course of the ungodly, 1 Joh. 4. 4. greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the World, as Lot in Sodom, his righteous Soul not carried with them, but vexed with their ungodly doings. There is to a Believer the Example of Christ to set against the Example of the World, and the Spirit of Ch…st against the Spirit of the World; and these are by far the more excellent and strong…r: faith looking to him and drawing vertue from him, makes the Soul surmount all discouragments and oppositions, so Heb. 12. 2. Looking to Iesus, and not only as an example worthy to oppose to all the World's examples, the Saints were so, chap. 11. and chap. 12. but he more than they all. But further, he is the Author and Finisher of our Faith, and so we eye him as having endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God. Not only that in doing so, we may follow him in that way, unto that end as our pattern, but as head from whom we borrow our strength to follow so, the Author and Finisher of our Faith. And so 1 Joh. 5. This is our victory whereby we overcome the World, even our Faith.
The Spirit of God shews the Believer clearly both the baseness of the ways of sin, and the wretched measure of their end. That Divine Light discovers the fading and false blush of the pleasures of sin, that there is nothing under them but true deformity and rottenness, which the deluded gross World does not see, but takes the first appearance of it for true and solid beauty, and is so enamoured with a painted strumpet. And as he sees the vileness of that love of sin, he sees the final unhappiness of it, that her ways lead down to the Chambers of Death. Methinks a Believer is as one standing upon a high Tower, that sees the way wherein the World runs in a Valley, in an unavoidable Precipice, a steep edge hanging over the bottomless pit where all that are not reclaimed fall over before they be aware; this they in their low way perceive not, and therefore walk and run on in the smooth pleasures, and ease of it towards their perdition: but he that sees the end will not run with them.
And as he hath by that light of the Spirit this clear reason of thinking on and taking another course; so by that Spirit he hath a very natural bent to a contrary motion, that he cannot be one with them; that Spirit moves him upwards whence it came, and makes that, in so far as he is renewed, his natural motion; though he hath a clog of flesh that cleaves to him, and so breeds him some difficulty, yet in the strength of that new Nature he overcomes it and goes on, till he attain his end, where all the difficulty in the way presently is over rewarded and forgotten; that makes amends for every weary step; that every one of these that walk in that way, does appear in Zion before God.
The Christian and the carnal Men are each most wonderful to another. The one wonders to see the other walk so strictly, and deny himself to these carnal Liberties that the most take, and take for so necessary, that they think they could not live without them. And the Christian thinks it strange that men should be so bewitcht, and still remain Children in the vanity of their turmoil, wearying and humouring thems…lves from morning to night, running a…ter stories and f…nci…s, ever busie doing nothing, wonders that the delights of earth and sin can so long entertain and please men, and perswade them to give Jesus Christ so many refuses, to turn from their life and happiness; chuse to be miserable, yea, take much pains to make thems…lves miserable. He knows the depravedness and bli…dness of Nature in this; knows it by himself that once he was so, and therefore wonders not so much at them as they do at him; yet the unreasonableness and frenzy of that course now appears to him, he cannot but wonder at these woeful mistakes. But the ungodly wonder far more at him, not knowing the inward cause of his different choice and way: the Believer, as we said, is upon the Hill, he is going up, looks …ack on them in the Valley, and sees their way tending to and ending in death, and calls to them to retire from it as loud as he can, tells them the danger, but either they hear not, nor understand not this Language, or will not believe him; finding present ease and delight in their way; will not consider and suspect the end of it; but they judge him the fool that will not share with them, and take that way where such multitudes go, and with such ease, and some of them with their Train, and Horses, and Coaches, and all their Pomp: and he and a few straggling poor Creatures like him climbing up a craggy steep Hill, and will by no means come off from that way, and partake of theirs, not knowing or not believing that at the top of that Hill he climbs is that happy glorious City, the new Ierusalem, whereof he is a Citizen, and whither he is tending, that he knows their end both of their way and his own, and therefore would reclaim them if he could, but will by no means return unto them, as the Lord commanded the Prophet.
The World thinks strange that a Christian can spend so much time in secret Prayer, not knowing nor being able to esteem the sweetness of communion with God, which he attains that way; yea, while … feels it not, how sweet it is beyond the World's enjoyments to be but seeking after it, and waiting for it. Oh! the delight that is in the bitterest exercise of repentance the very tears, much more the succeeding Harvest of Joy.Incontinentes vere v…lu… tatis ignari. Frist. Eth. Its strange unto a carnal Man to see the Child of God disdain the pleasures of sin, not knowing the higher and purer delights and pl…asures that he is called to, and hath it m…y be some part in present; but however the fullness of them in assured hope.
The strangeness of the World's way to the Christian, and his to it, though that is somewhat unnatural, yet affects them very differently. He looks on th… deluded sinners with pity, they on him with hate. Their part, which is here exprest, of wondering, breaks out in reviling, they speak evil of you; and what's their Voice? what mean these precise …ools, will they readily say: what course is this they take contrary to all the World? will they make a new Religion, and condemn all their honest civil Neighbours that are not like them? Ay forsoo…h, all go to Hell, think you, except you, and those that follow your guise; no more than good-fellowship and liberty, and as for so much reading and praying, these are but brain sick melancholy conceits, and Man may go to Heaven Neighbour-like without all this ado. Thus they let fly at their pleasure: But this troubles not the composed Christians mind at all; while Curs snarl and bark about him, the sober Traveller goes on his way and regards them not; he that is acquainted with the way of Holiness, can endure more than the counter-blasts and airs of scoffs and revilings; he accounts them his Glory and his Riches: So Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. And besides many other things to animate this that is here exprest, Oh! how full is it, They shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. And this in readiness, foreign hath the day set, and it shall surely come, though you think it far off.
Though the wicked themselves forget them, and the Christian slight them, and let them pass; they pass not so, they are all registred, and the great Court-day shall call them to account for all these riots and excesses, and withal, for all their reproaches of the godly that would not run with them in these ways Tremble then you despisers and mockers of Holiness, though you come not near it. What will you do when these you reviled shall appear glorious in your sight, and their King, the King of Saints here much more glorious, and his glory their joy, and all terror to you? Oh! then all faces that could look out disdainfully upon Religion and the Professors of it, shall gather blackness and be bathed with shame, and the more the despised Saints of God shall shout for joy.
You that would rejoyce then in the appearing of that holy Lord and Judge of the World, let your way be now in holiness; avoid and hate the common ways of the wicked World: they live in their foolish opinion, and that shall quickly end: But the Sentence of that day shall stand for ever.