Exposition Upon 1 Peter, Biblical exegesis · Chapter 3 · Verse 13 – Verse 14
Verse 13. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
TO requite evil with goodness, is a weighty and difficult point, many reasons have been already laid down about it: Heres also another reason to enforce the same, It will be the way to save us from may harms in our life, which he takes from experience, and sets out by way of interogation, that none almost, not one of a thousand will be so vile, or so without all grace, and good nature, as to hurt us, if we follow ever that which is good, that is, if we live profitable towards our brethren in all the duties of love, with relation to their bodies, souls, goods, goods name, places, callings, and the like, and when any wrong is offered us, not onelyonly we do not revenge it, but on the contrary, overcome it with well-doing, none almost will be so wretchedly minded as to harm us.
Note then, That
Patience and innoceny of life,Patience and innocency of life, are the way to escape harms from men. are the way to escape harms and wrongs from men; This must needs procure quiet to those that are endewed herewith, Who can harm such a one? As grievous words stir up anger, so a soft answer turneth away wrath: Thus Gideon pacified the Ephraimites, Prov. 15. 1.and thus did David overcome Saul: Contrarily,Iudg. 8. 1, 2, 3. such as requite word with word, wrong with wrong, suit with suit,1 Sam. 24. 18. and 26. 21. &c. they do but stir the coals, and blow the fire of dissention, and may look to be harmed of every one; experience sheweth that if any shall harm the innocent, there's none almost but cryes against it (as Jonathan blamed his Father,1 Sam. 19. 4, 5. and 14. 45. for setting himself against David; and the people the same Saul, when he would have put Jonathan to death,1 Sam. 24. 18. and 26. 21. for tasting the honey, yea, he himself was convinced of his own Conscience for wronging David) but that the covetous, contentious, hasty, and hurtful, and that in wrongs are impatient and given to revenge, are continually talked of, ill spoken of, and railed on; yea, meet with adversaries, that do and will oppose them, so that most of the ordinary wrongs that come to us from our Neighbors, have their beginning from our selves, who do not that good in our places which we might, or are impatient when we are wronged: None is hurt but of himself, whatsoever others do to us, we are not hurt thereby, so we be innocent and sin not; yet doth not this justifie them that do harm us, but teacheth us by what means especially we may avoid being harmed.
1. This rebuketh our folly,Use 1. that would fain live without harm, and yet cannot be wise enough to use the means to bring it to pass, but take the contrary course: either we do not perform our duties to our neighbors as we should, and so catch harm and are evil spoken of, which is the case of some, or we be impatient in wrongs, apt and given to revenge, which is the case of some others; we must therefore labor to do our duties in our places, and live profitably, endeavoring withall for such humility, meekness, and patience from the Lord, as we may be able to overcome evil with goodness; Hereupon must ensue much good.
2. When any have harmed us,Use 2. and the same proves grievous unto us, let us examine our selves, whether we may not justly lay the blame on our selves: If we have been in fault, then are we to be patient, to humble our selves, and to acknowledge Gods hand on us, to teach us more innocency, and more patience, and not to stand out so bitterly against them that have done us wrong; thus shall we finde comfort in afflictions, which else (bringing the same upon our selves) we cannot expect.
Verse 14. But and if ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.
NOw the Apostle makes an exception, that howsoever for the most part the course prescribed will save us harmless, yet some there are that be so wicked, as they will wrong a man, though he be never so innocent and godly, nay, will wrong him the more for his goodness, and for that alone: They will injury men for righteousness sake, that is, wrongfully and without cause, or for Religion and godliness sake; yet be not you (that meet with such wrongs when you be innocent, nay for your goodness) dismaid or faint concerning this, for this shall not turn to your hurt, but to your great good, for you are blessed if you suffer any thing whatsoever in this kinde.
But and if ye suffer for righteousness sake,] Here Note, That there are
1. Some which are so bad,Some are so bad that they wrong the innocent. as that they wrong the innocent, even them by whom they have been at no times wrong'd, from whom they have received no harm: Thus was Abel hated and killed of Cain, Moses misused by the Israelites,Prov. 22. 22. and 23. 10. David railed upon by Shimei, and persecuted of Saul: This is against all equity, and that which the Lord must needs revenge, for its his honor to defend the innocent; yea, if he will not bear doing wrong to them that have wronged us, much less will he endure that the innocent should be wrong'd.
O take heed of wronging such,Use. whether in words, by slandering them, backbiting them, or bearing false witness against them; or in deed, by oppressing them, griping, grinding their faces, and the like.
2. Others which are worse,Some hate the godly meerly for their goodness. even such as hate Gods servants for well-doing and their godliness: Thus Ishmael persecuted Isaac, for that he was the son of the promise:Gal. 4. 29. Thus Ahab hated Micaiab, as both he and Jezabel Elijah: Numb. 23. 8.Thus was Jeremiah hated, so John the Baptist, the Apostles, Christ himself: How many thousands of such were persecuted unto the very death, under the bloody Emperors of Rome? and since hath not Antichrist been drunk with the blood of Gods Saints;See Rev. 17. 6. yea, amongst our selves there be, that hate men for their forwardness and zeal; Some Ministers think their people too forward, some people their Ministers, O they could love them well, were it not for their preciseness:Psal. 16. 3. These be not led by Davids spirit, nor can have any mark that they are translated from death unto life,1 Iohn 3. 14. or that they are true members of the Church:Psal. 15. 4. They are of the brood of Cain, of Ishmaels generation, worse then Balaam, yea of Satans company, who is the accuser of the Brethren.
O be not of this number,Use. adde not unto the measure of your sins, by hating those whom God loves, and esteems as the apple of his eye! O what fearful judgements have been inflicted on such, especially having thus done against their own knowledge! Neither onelyonly will the Lord be revenged on bloody and hateful persecuters, but he will not suffer the least of their disgraceful and hard usages to go unpunished, but as a cup of cold water given to a Christian, in the name of a Christian, and because he is so, shall not go unrewarded; so shall not their smal indignities go unpunished:Matth. 18. 6. If whoso shall offend one of these little ones, it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his neck, & that he were drowned in the depth of the sea; then how fearful is their condition that misuse them, abuse them, backbite them, persecute them, &c? If men do not like and approve of such, yet may they let them alone: Cannot they be content to follow the world, Ale-houses, Whore-houses, &c. but that they must hate and trouble them that do not? you like your course, so do they theirs; you should rather love them that will take pains to do good and be good, whereas your selves will not.
Happy are ye,] Such as suffer wrongfully, or for Religion and Conscience sake, are happy.
1. Such as suffer wrongfully or without a cause;Such as suffer wrongfully, or for Religion and Conscience sake, are happy. for 1. To suffer justly, is an hundred times worse, sin giving more cause of grief then the cross. 2. In such case we have our conscience on our side, and that is a feast. 3. We may go to God and make our moan to him. 4. God will make a good end, he will make our innocency break forth as the light, and our righteousness as the noon-day, which will be the more taken knowledge of, then if it had never been oppugned. 5. God will take the matter into his hand, and requite to them according to their works, ridding us out of their hands.
Its then our duty not to be dismaid,Use. if we meet with hurt without cause, for the innocent to be harmed, its no new thing; lets be thankful for the same, say not impatiently, What a vile thing is this, that one should be so misused? as if we were too good to be served; or, If it were true, and I had deserved it, I would never have cared; for then shouldest thou have had much more cause of shame and grief, as having deserved the same: O let us keep our innocency still, so shall we either have no harm, or at least, not such as whereat we need be much troubled.
2. Such as suffer for Religion, good conscience sake, for the whole truth of God, or any part of it, the profession or practice thereof, the omission of evil prohibited, or performance of duties enjoyned, &c. Such,Matth. 5. 10. I say, as thus suffer, are happy: So saith our Savior, so the Apostle Peter.1 Pet. 4. 14.
For 1. This is an argument we are not of the world,Reasons. but are chosen out of the world.Iohn 15. 19. 2. That we love the truth, as who can be content even to suffer for it: Many will profess it in fair weather, but how few stick thereto in adversity? 3. Its to be made like unto Christ our head.Phil. 3. 10. 4. All the Prophets and Apostles have walked in this way to Heaven;Acts 5. 41. we are shrewdly hurt to be companions with them.Phil. 1. 29. 5. Thus to suffer is no small honor.Matth. 5. 10. 6. Their reward is great in Heaven: Herein flesh and blood can see no happiness,Luke 12. 32. such as live at ease, or in wealth and pleasure are with them happy indeed,Iames 1. 12. but Moses had respect hereunto,Heb. 11. 26. and did clearly discern the same.
Q. May we then offer our selves to trouble?
A. Ordinarily we must not;We must tarry till God call us to suffer: If any in extraordinary times should feel an extraordinary zeal, and desire hereto, as it seems the Apostle Paul had,Acts 21. 13. when he would needs go to Jerusalem, questionless they should have joy in their sufferings; we must tarry till God call us.
Q. May we flee persecution?
A. If God make make us a way,Whether we may flee from persecution. we may, as who haply are not as yet so fully fitted and resolved to suffer, as were meet, or who know not whether God will have us scatter his truth further, or remain to be as feeds thereof for afterwards, but if we see that its Gods minde we should be s…ffer, then its our duty willingly and chearfully to put forth our selves.
This confuteth the foolish world,Use. that judging it to be a most miserable thing thus to suffer, will therefore never come at it, either not professing Religion at all, or else revolting therefrom in time of trouble; yet would they be happy, but they take a contrary course, they being ashamed of Christ here, he will be ashamed of them hereafter: In saving a transitory life,Mark 8. 38. they lose life everlasting; yea, how do we our selves shun sufferings, as if they were miserable which do suffer? whereas the Spirit of God hath pronounced them blessed: Happy are they that suffer for a good cause, for righteousness, for Religion, for conscience sake; such as stick fastest to the truth, provide best and most wisely for themselves, what can their enemies do to us? If they take away our goods,Mark 10. 30. we shall have a thousand fold more in this world, and in the world to come life everlasting; If they mangle our bodies, God will raise up the same gloriously; If they separate our souls from our bodies by death, the Angels will carry them into Abrahams bosom;Matth. 5. 10. If our cause be good, we have cause to rejoyce in our sufferings;Acts 5. 41. and 16. so are we enjoyned, so did the Apostles in their sufferings,Heb. 10. 34. so also the holy Martyrs. I might to this purpose alledge the story of Alice Driver, of Priests wife in Exeter, of the Christians in Edessa, &c. but that they may be read at large in the Book of the Martyrs: O that we should be so discouraged at a mock, at a frown of our betters! O that we should be as soon ready to give over, as to begin to do well! though the more religious we are, the more we esteem of the word, the better both God, his angels, and people like us; yet is it not so with the world, they liked us better before, but do not now approve of our course: howsoever, this is our duty, hereof shal we have the benefit; yea, to be disliked, to suffer for this, will be our honor, our advancement:2. Sam. 6. 22. As David being mocked of Michol, resolved to be yet more humble, so should we be so much the more for goodness, as we see the world oppose it, and set themselves against us because of the same: We must not be discouraged at the very greatest, much less at small trials:Heb. 12. 4. We know not what we shall suffer, For yet we have not resisted unto blood; onelyonly let us be careful that we suffer for Righteousness, and for a good cause; for though we have some good things in us, yet haply we may be brought to suffer for some fault in us, and therein we can have small peace: Beware we suffer not as Separatists, that flie out against and from the Church; that we suffer not for contempt or usual neglect of our Ministers, if they preach the Word truly; that we suffer not for rash, heady, hasty and violent carriage of our selves; that we suffer not for our censuring, for our meddling with things or persons wherewith we have nothing to do; or for passing our bounds in things beyond our reach. Servants must beware that they suffer not for their carelesness in their places, as those which having liberty granted them to hear the Word, upon their not profiting thereby, are restrained therefrom; so if they shall suffer for being negligent, untrusty, sloathful, stout in answering again, &c. they suffer deservedly, not for righteousness sake; yea, this their carriage makes the godly housholders to grieve, and those that be not so well seasoned, to think ill of the profession, and it makes the name of God and his Gospel ill spoken of; and hereupon many say, Oh, Ile never meddle with these Bible-wenches, &c. fie upon it, what a fearful thing is this? The like may be said of the poor which neglect their callings, and are caraless of their Families, &c. Note further, That
A godly man is blessed,A godly man is happy in what condition soever. happy in what condition soever: He is happy not onelyonly in prosperity, but even in sufferings, even in the very lowest abasement, nothing can make them miserable; having God and a good conscience,See Psal. 1. 1. & 32. 1. & 112 1. & 126. 1. though they meet with affliction from God, or persecution from men (as here) yet are they happy: Imprison him, fetter him, let no creature come at him, put Lyons to him, &c. yet he is still, and shall be the childe of God, the member of Christ, the heir of Heaven, a Kings son, &c. and how can he be miserable that hath the Comforter within? For the wicked, nothing can make them happy; let a wicked man have Sampsons strength, Absoloms beauty, Ahasuerus his wealth, Nebuchadnezzars stately Babel, Dives his costly apparel, &c. yet is he miserable, he is under the curse of God, there's but a step between him and Hell:Ionah 1. 6. As Jonah was asleep whilest God was offended with him, the winds raged against him, the Whale was ready to swallow him, so do the wicked eat, sleep and are jovial, while God is offended, Heaven is shut up against them, Hell gapes for them, and the Devil waits on them as his prey: Their security will end in a fearful wakening, they shall be snatched from their beds of ease, and cast into everlasting torments.
1. This may encourage Gods servants to suffer for righteousness:Use 1. They shall not be the less happy; let the world do its worst, it cannot make them miserable: They are every way happy, in poverty, sickness, persecution, and the like; O who would not labor to attain this honor and happiness?
2. It may disswade the wicked from their mischievous plotting against Gods servants;Use 2. For why do they pursue them? To make them miserable, its impossible: They may indeed make them the more to shine forth through their constancy in Faith, and increase their glory in Heaven, and so make them more happy, but to make them miserable they cannot: O that they would break off this their course, and be weary thereof! for so long as they be wicked, how rich soever, or how high a pitch soever of honor they have clambered to, they are miserable; yea, these and the like make them more miserable, as being fuel to their lust, being to them occasions of sinning; cease therefore to be wicked, else shalt thou never cease to be miserable.
Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.] To comfort them in their sufferings for Christ, he removes the enemy of constant and patient suffering, namely, Fear: Be not (saith he) afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; Fear is an enemy to constant suffering.that is, Either be not afraid with the fear of ungodly men, and such as have no hope in God, who in the very least danger are altogether dismaid (as the words in Isa. 8. 12. (whence these seem to be taken) do imply, or, Fear not the things wherewith they seek to afright you, the Apostle using the words but to his own sense, Fear not their faces, big looks) threats prisons, censures and tortures) neither be dismaid at them; fear is an enemy to constant suffering (as a coward can be no true Soldier) and therefore are we often diswaded therefrom:Matth. 10. 28. This hindred Nicodemus from coming unto Christ by day,Luke 12. 4. and multitudes from confessing him,Rev. 2. 10. even for fear of the Scribes and Pharisees; made Peter deny his Master: and because of this, in all alterations of Religion, most turn with the time: And would not many be more forward in goodness then they are, if it were not for fear of displeasing.
O strive against this fear,Use. and be couragious; so were Daniel, the three Children, the Apostles, Moses, the holy Martyrs, &c. Their Faith overcame their fear; we need not fear men, or what they can do to us, for God will stand by us, we must fear him, fear to sin against him; for unbelievers and fearful, they shall have a fearful portion: such as fear man more then God,Rev. 21. 8. flye from the stroke of a childe, and fall into the hand of a Gyant, from a straw to a sword.