Exposition Upon 1 Peter, Biblical exegesis · Chapter 3 · Verse 15
Verse 15. But sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.
HEre's the true means of constant and patient suffering, even faith resting it self confidently on God.
But sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts,] What it is to sanctifie the Lord God.We sanctifie God, or his name (as its in the first petition of the Lords prayer) not when we adde any holiness thereto, which is holy beyond comparison, but when we acknowledge and give that holiness which belongs to it: Particularly, herein we sanctifie the Lord in our hearts,Iohn 3. 33. when we believing his faithfulness in his promises,Rom. 4. 20. do thereupon rest on him in time of our troubles, and this is to glorifie him.
Faith is the mother of constancy in suffering;Faith, the mother of constancy in sufferings. I know thy faith and thy patience: Be thou faithful unto the death, &c. By faith, those worthies mentioned in Heb. 11. did undergo all their sufferings: This is the victory that overcomes the world:Rev. 2. 2. The want of faith makes the world flye from God and his cause;1 Iohn 5. 4. weakness of faith causeth fear to overflow us, as in Peter and Cranmer, as soon as we see some trouble to arise,Luke 8. 24. then are we ready to say with Peter, O Master, we perish! If we do believe our selves to be the Lords, and that our cause is just and good, and that he hath all power in his hand, and that none can stir further then he pleaseth, and that he will strengthen his servants to endure, and after this transitory life, translate us unto life everlasting: O this will encourage us indeed.
Labor we therefore for a good stock of Faith now in this time of peace,Use. and let us in our daily tryals, reproaches, and afflictions, exercise the same, and make good use of it: If in these we can give glory to God by depending on him, we may trust our Faith will not fail us, when greater tryals shall befal us: to believe God of his Word, is to give glory to God; as on the contrary, to faint, tends to his dishonor, and as to believe on him is great ease to our selves, so not to believe but faint, very troublesom.
And be ready always to give an answer, &c.] He proceeds to another duty, as a fruit of the former trust in God, exhorting us in token of our Faith in God, that we be ready with courage to acknowledge and make confession of our Faith, to those that shall demand a reason thereof: This we must be ready at all times to do, and so often as we shall be called thereto, and to all men that have authority to call us, and to any that shall demand it with a desire to learn, or whensoever and wheresoever we shall see it meet and requisite so to do (as the Spirit of God will direct his servants where, when and to whom) yet so as we do it with courage, meekness, and godly reverence.
Our duty then is,As we must believe Gods Truth with our hearts, so must we profess it with our tongues. not onelyonly to believe the truth of God in our hearts, but we must be ready outwardly to make profession thereof, and confess the same with our tongues, when God shall call us thereunto: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob walk'd as Pilgrims here on earth, professing themselves Gods servants; and Joshua professed, That he and his would serve the true God: Rom. 10. 9.Accordingly must we, both by our speeches and actions declare whose servants we are, so walking, as that men may see we are not ashamed of God, or his Word and way, whatsoever others do, most do, yea rich and wise men do, the great ones of the world do, yet do we thus walk, daring do no otherwise, and not caring who know our carriage and behavior; and though they scoff at it as scruplous, too strict, and precise, and call us fools for our labor, and ask us, Why we do not thus and thus as we see most men do, yet need not we be dismaid, as being warranted by the Word of God: So in all Companies we must make known what we are; If we hear any rail at goodness, speak ill of good duties, oppose any part of Gods truth, reproach the professors of Religion, whether unknown or known unto us, we must take the cause in hand, standing for the defence of Gods truth and servants: If by our timely answer any good may come to the Gospel, we must not through our silence betray the same; but if we be among scorners and dogs, we must shew our dislike by departing from them: Thus must we do being in company with prophane ones, so if we be among Papists or other adversaries to the Truth, we must have the zeal of God in us; so if it be in the times of persecution, that we be called forth by Magistrates, or their authority, we ought not to flinch, nor be ashamed or afraid, but shew what our Religion is, what our Faith and Hope, giving a Reason thereof out of Gods Word; or if they demand us about any point of Religion, we must in the defence of Gods cause speak our consciences freely: Thus if the Jews or Turks should call us to know, through whom we did hope & look to be saved, we must acknowledge Christ Jesus, and our Faith and Hope of Salvation in him, as of whom the Prophets foretold, and who did every way for time, place, maner, &c. fulfil their prophecies of him: This we must believe with our hearts, and confess with our mouthes, in this Faith we must both live and dye: The like might be instanced about Justification, if by Papists we should be called to an account. Thus Moses came often before Pharaoh to justifie his demand; thus Elias did acknowledge and maintain the true God, and his pure worship, against Ahab and his false Prophets; so Daniel and the three Children, so the Apostles, so the Apostle Paul, Rev. 2. 13.so the Church of Pergamos, so the holy Martyrs, they could not be drawn from the truth, either by promises, threats or torments; so in this Land in the days of Queen Mary, Gods servants shewed good skill in the Word, and made known their Christian courage.
Reasons hereof may be these:Reasons. 1. That it may appear God hath some that know and love, and will defend his Truth, as the Devil also the contrary. 2. That we may declare we be not ashamed nor afraid of men, to confess the cause of God. 3. That we may confirm our own consciences,Acts 26. 18. and may also (if possible) win others to the truth, as Paul had almost done Agrippa: No doubt many standers by were won by Pauls defences, and the Martyrs, and not a few weak ones confirmed, the rest being left without excuse.
1. This condemneth that horrible wicked practice of the Church of Rome, Use 1.in keeping the people in miserable blindeness, and holding it a deadly fin for them to read any part of Scripture, in a tongue they understand, or any book touching the true Faith and Religion, nay, read both Scriptures and Prayers to them in an unknown tongue, and lock up all knowledge from them, and means thereof, like the Scribes and Pharisees, that took away the Key of Knowledge: How shall they then be ready to give an account of their Faith? They must believe as the Church believes, and that is all they can get, onelyonly they preach to them in their own language, which yet is but lyes and errors for truth: This is most gross robbery of the people, Christ bid Search the Scriptures, Iohn 5. 39.they charge the contrary, and curse them that do: Its cruel tyranny and murther of their souls; they take away their weapons that they may make a prey of their souls,1 Sam. 13. 19. as the Philistines did from the Israelites, to keep them under: Those are not of Moses his minde, that wished,Numb. 11. 29. That all Gods people might prophesie; Col. 3. 16.nor of St. Pauls, That the Word of Christ might dwell in them richly in all wisdom, &c. None have need to be discouraged from seeking knowledge, for most be too careless and lazy.
2. This rebuketh the gross ignorance of most part of people,Use 2. that notwithstanding this light that we have, and so many helps of preaching, liberty of reading, and so many Books of all kindes, and of the grounds of our Religion, yet know not what they hold, nor what be the points of their Religion; but as Market news, they hear they must serve God, and come to Church, and must be saved by Jesus Christ, but to prove that he is the true Christ, or that they must be saved by him, and by no other, in whole nor in part, or that the Scripture is the Word of God, they are altogether ignorant, and so might be carried away to any Religion: This is an horrible sin, especially considering the helps and liberty which we enjoy; What notorious carelesness is this? must we not buy the truth, prize the truth, know it, hold it fast, not part therewith? Most have such skill in worldly businesses, that they are altogether unskilful in the Word, regard not the means of their Salvation:Iohn 3. 19. This is condemnation, Hos. 4. 6.that light is come into the world, and men love darkness more then the light: O how many perish for want of knowledge? yet are there some which having knowledge, but not the love of the truth nor Faith in God, will flinch from it if ever they be tryed, for there is no hold of him that loves not the truth, though he have never so much knowledge, as we may read of Dr. Pendleton and others in Queen Mary's time: Such, if they be in company of Papists, of Cavillers or Railers, they can stand or sit still and say nothing; How would these confess the truth with peril of their lives,Matth. 12. 30. when they be affriad of a great man, &c? Let such know,Mark 8. 38. that Christ esteems them as his enemies, For he that is not with him, is against him; they being ashamed of him in this world, he will be no less ashamed of them on the last and great day.
3. O then let all of us labor for knowledge,Use 3. and to be grounded in our Religion, and to know the points of Catechism, and be able to prove them by some place of Scripture, so as we may be bold to believe them, and stand to the defence of them: To this end, we must give ear to Catechizing, read the grounds of Religion, and study the Scriptures in humility and with Prayer, having a care to know the will of God, and to be guided by it, and to stand in the defence of it to Gods glory, against such as oppose it: This is the glory of a man, of a Christian, to make confession of his Faith in Christ, and stand to the defence of it; this God may justly expect of us, it hath been performed by them which had not the hundredth part of the means which we have: O let us both love and live in the Truth, sticking close thereto, whatsoever it cost us! And if at any time we shall hear it spoken against, we must have the zeal of God in us to stand in the defence thereof:Luke 12. 8. Thus confessing Christ here among men, he will confess us before his Father in Heaven and his holy Angels.
Of the hope that is in you,] We must believe with our hearts before we can confess with our mouthes.Faith and hope must be rooted in our hearts ere we utter the same with our tongues; In vain do we talk of things whereof we have not the inward feeling.
With meekness and fear,] Here's the maner (for good things must be done in a right maner) we must temper our courage and zeal,Our speeches must be accompanied with meekness and fear. in setting out the truth with meekness and fear; we must avoid pride and insolency by forgetting our places, or those we have to speak to, or breaking out into violent speeches, mockings, gibings, or such like, for so we may do much hurt, and this is unbeseeming the Spirit of Gods Servants. Besides, the things we speak of, being the matters of God, our speech and behavior must be sutable thereunto.
This rebuketh the preposterous zeal of some,Use. which defending the truth and a good cause, forget duty and respect to their Superiors, and break out into violent and unseemly speeches, and be at defiance by and by, and straight condemn all that are not as they should be, whereas they should by a wise, meek, and moderate defence, and kinde perswasions win credit to the truth which they defend, and so do good; they on the contrary cause them to speak evil, and to think that its but a preposterous hate and pride of heart in them so to speak, and so do hurt: Some sober Christians do much good, and win on many that at first were opposite, when they hear the wait of their reasons, rather then the bigness of their words, and seeing they do it in the fear of God, and for conscience sake: Some are not so milde as others, but of an hotter nature; this must in any wise be tempered with wisdom, yet are not we to part from any part of the truth, but to stick as close thereto as we may.