Exposition Upon 1 Peter, Title page – To the reader
A GODLY & FRUITFUL EXPOSITION Upon all the FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER.
BY That Pious and Eminent Preacher of the WORD of GOD, JOHN ROGERS of Dedham in ESSEX.
JOHN 5. 39.
Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testifie of me.
2 PETER 1. 20, 21.
Knowing this first, that no prophesie of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.
For the prophesie came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost.
LONDON: Printed by JOHN FIELD; and are to be sold by Peter Cole, at the Sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhill, near the Royal Exchange. 1650.
To the Reader.
THe Name alone of the Author of this Exposition and Commentary, doth put a great price and value on it, yea command thy reading and study of it. It is the work of John Rogers, Minister of Dedham in Essex, written by his own hand. Being dead, he yet speaketh *foreign, Heb. 11. 4. in some Copies foreign. Oecumen. ad loc. foreign Theophylact.; that is, his Name is as a sweet savour poured forth, and his praise amongst the Saints in all the Churches of Christ; wheresoever he is spoken of, this may be said of him, That he was a burning and a shining light, having a heart inflamed with love to Christ, Truth, and the Souls of men; his words were as sparks of fire. As his light directed his zeal, so his zeal wrought with his light, and made it powerful: Animum non faciunt, qui animum non habent. Some Books are like a frosty day, clear, but dry and cold, and leave the Reader in the same temper. As in preaching, so in writing also, the stirring of the heart and affections should be endeavored, as well as Information; and such words be used, and so set, as may rather make a Sermon then a Tract, and beget rather a love to the Matter (as this Author endeavoreth) then an opinion, or an esteem of the VVriters abilities. He was a Scribe indeed, taught of God, instructed and prepared for the Kingdom (that is, the Church) of God, having, yea being a Treasure of things both new and old (that is, of all sorts of Doctrine, and all ways of Application of them.) He was a Boanerges, a Son of Thunder *Mark 3. 19. Lucas Brugensis. Beza Grot. ad loc., for the power and efficacy God gave unto his Ministry; and a Barnabas, a Son of Consolation too*Acts 4. 36. Consolator, à comitate procul dubio, & eximi… in crigendis consuentis facultate, &c. Beza ad loc.: As the Thunder shaketh the Pillars of the Earth, overthroweth the Rocky Mountains, causeth the wilde and savage Beasts to fear; and as the Lightning powerfully insinuates it self, breaking the bones, but not the flesh: So was it the pleasure of the Lord to bring down by his Ministry, the high and stout hearts of many rebellious ones, and to lead them in subjection to his wil through Christ; To throw down, and to build up by him even as high as Heaven. As the Scriptures give us the Genealogies of the Saints, so many came out of Adam, Abraham, &c. How numerous are the Children whom this Author hath had given him by God? Many Families, persons of all sorts and ranks, in many Counties and Nations; even so far as his sound went forth, will and do acknowledge him to have begotten them to God, and call him Blessed.
Reader, read his VVorks, and thou shalt know him; work what thou readest on thy own heart, that thou mayst be like unto him, one of his children also: which is the hearty desire of him who cannot but make this honorable mention of the Author, and is
May, 1650. Desirous of thy good in Christ, SIDRACH SIMPSON.