12. Beloved. This word, as in ii. II, denotes the great sympathy which Peter has with them in their sufferings. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you. For hereunto were ye called. (See notes on ii. 21 and i. 7.) On proving see notes on i. 7; James i. 2, 3. As though a strange thing happened unto you. BENGEL: "That adversities should befall the saints is, in one point of view, something strange, since they are sons of God; in another, it is not strange, since that is the very thing calculated to purify them." (See 2 Tim. iii. 12.) This reference to the nearness of the fiery trial seems to indicate that this letter was written only a short time before the Neronian persecution.

13. But insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice. The word insomuch denotes the reason and the measure of the rejoicing. In so far as, to the extent in which they are partakers of these sufferings they are to rejoice. Peter refers to these sufferings of Christ in i. 11; ii. 21–24; iii. 18. On rejoicing see notes on James i. 2. That at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. This revelation will occur when Christ, at His Second Advent (Matt. xxv. 31), comes to judge the living and the dead (1 Pet iv. 5). To believers this revelation will be a day of joy, to unbelievers a day of terror.

14. If ye are reproached for (in) the name of Christ, blessed are ye. That is, for the sake of Christ and as followers of Christ, for being a Christian (iv. 16). (See Matt. v. II; Luke vi. 22.) Because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of glory, because glory in a special sense is an attribute of the third Person of the Trinity, and because He brings glory and seals it to the

suffering believer. In the A. V. and the Textus Receptus there is added a clause, "on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified." This evidently is a gloss, and is not found in the most ancient Greek MSS., and is therefore rightly rejected by all the critical editors of the Greek text, as well as by the Revisers.

15. For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief. SADLER: "Does not this warning teach Christian preachers a lesson, that no matter how high they assume the spiritual state of their hearers to be, they must speak to them as still in the flesh, and not above the temptations to commit even gross sin?" Or an evil-doer. Every kind of crime is included. Or as a-meddler-in-other men's-matters. One word in Greek, meaning "one who undertakes the supervision of affairs pertaining to others which in no wise concern him." Peter evidently refers to those who, with holy but indiscreet zeal, meddle with the affairs of unbelievers (possibly of believers also),—whether public or private, civil or sacred,—in order to make them conform to their standard. are always such officious persons found in every Christian congregation. Wordsworth (and others) would apply this warning to those who assume spiritual functions which do not belong to them, and to those who call themselves successors of Peter.

There

16. But if a man suffer as a Christian. This name is found only here and in Acts xi. 26; xxvi. 28. Let him not be ashamed. (Compare Rom. i. 16; 2 Tim. i. 8, 12.) For such sufferings are precious jewels in the sight of God (CALOVIUS). (See Acts v. 41.) But let him glorify God. BENGEL: "Peter might have said, by antithesis, let him esteem it an honor; but he shows that the honor must be attributed to God, who, while He counts the be

liever worthy of the honor of suffering, confers on him a great blessing, as well as an exemption from the punishment which will overtake the wicked." In this name. In the name Christian.

17. For the time is come for judgement to begin. Another proof that the Epistle was written on the eve of the Neronian persecution. Peter felt that he was living in the last age of the world, and that "the end of all things was at hand" (iv. 7). At the house of God. Literally from the house. This house is the Church of believers. The judgment takes place first in the house of God and thence proceeds further on. And if it begin first at us. Scripture very clearly teaches that judgment begins with the Church (Jer. xxv. 29; xlix. 12; Heb. xii. 6), but to true believers it is a judgment of mercy, while to unbelievers it is a judgment, revealing the wrath of God and His punitive justice (Matt. xxv. 34, 41; Rom. ii. 3--10; 2 Thess. i. 5-10; Rev. vi. 15-17; xx. 11–15). The judgment of believers leads to eternal life, that of unbelievers to perdition (Phil. i. 28; iii. 19; Rev. xvii. 8, 11), even unto eternal death (Matt. xviii. 8 ; xxv. 41, 46; 2 Thess. i. 9; Jude 7). What shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? A question more awful and aweinspiring than any assertion. AUGUSTINE (quoted by Wordsworth): "In this verse Peter shows that the sufferings of the righteous proceed from the judgment of God, which begins with the house of God; whence we may infer, how awful will be the sufferings which are reserved for the ungodly."

18. And if the righteous is scarcely saved. The teaching of the last verse is strengthened by this quotation from the Greek Bible of Prov. xi. 31. Where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? There is no reference here to the doctrine of annihilation, as if this verse simply

meant that there would be no existence for the wicked

after the judgment.1

19. Wherefore. A summing up of the whole argument. Let them also that suffer according to the will of God. Believers are to comfort themselves that their sufferings are for a wise purpose, to prove their faith (iv. 12), thereby to glorify God (iv. 16), in accordance with God's will. Commit their souls in well-doing. For unto this have they been created in Christ Jesus (Eph. ii. 10), and “the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon them (iv. 14). Unto a faithful Creator. Who has not only created (mediately) our souls, but created them anew in Christ when we were regenerated. GERHARD: "As the most faithful Creator, God will preserve His saints, as the most mighty, He can do it."

1 Those who hold what is known as the doctrine of conditional immortality or annihilationism, maintain that man is not naturally immortal, but that immortality is the gift of Christ to believers, and that therefore believers only attain to an immortal life or unceasing existence, and that all unbelievers are annihilated. The advocates of this view (Olshausen, Nitzsch, Rothe, etc., among the German theologians; Locke, Coleridge, Watts, Whately, Dale of Birmingham, Edward White, and others of England), are by no means agreed as to the time of this annihilation, some maintaining that the unbeliever is blotted out of existence at death, while others maintain that the annihilation of the wicked takes place at the judgment. It is true, as our Lord taught (John xvii. 3), that life eternal, immortality in its supreme and perfect sense, can be enjoyed only by those who spiritually know God and believe in Christ,—it is a gift of grace enjoyed by saints alone,-yet unending existence is in multiplied passages asserted of the sinner and the wicked as truly as of those who are eternally saved through faith. Nothing short of absolute immortality and unending existence for the wicked as truly as for the righteous will adequately interpret such solemn declarations as Matt. xxv. 41, 46; Mark iii. 29; ix. 48; John iii. 36; v. 28, 29; Rom. ii. 7-9; 2 Thess. i. 9; Jude 7; Rev. xiv. II; XX. 10. There is no foundation whatever in the Bible for the doctrine of the annihilation of the unbeliever. It is a wild speculation of perverted reason, not able even to stand the test of a true philosophy.

CHAPTER V.

19. AN EXHORTATION TO THE PRESBYTERS.

1-4. The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according unto God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.

I. The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder. The office of the elder was taken from the synagogue, and retained in all Jewish Christian congregations as well as introduced into the Gentile Christian assemblies. We find elders at Antioch (Acts xi. 30), at Jerusalem (Acts xv. 2, 4; xxi. 18; James v. 14), and in the congregations of Asia Minor, as here. These elders were not always, yet doubtless often, those oldest in years, but rather the most experienced and matured among the converted members of the Church. They are also called bishops or overseers (Acts xx. 17, 28; Tit. i. 5,7; Phil. i. 1; 1 Tim. iii. 1, 8). They were the pastors of the flock, appointed by the Apostles, with the concurrence of the congregations (Acts xiv. 23; Tit. i. 5). It was only after the Apostolic age that the office of bishop and elder or presbyter was gradually separated. During the lifetime of the Apostles, these wielded the supreme direction of the Congregations, but they put themselves on a level with the elders, hence Peter calls himself here