peter and the church · 2020-06-21 · peter and the church by g. campbell morgan. foreword t he...

Shiloh Christian LibraryAuthor and Title

Peter and the Churchby

G. Campbell Morgan

Foreword

THE last four chapters of this brochureconsist of the official reports of BibleReadings given at the Keswick Convention

of 1937. Those Bible Readings were a con-sideration of a description of the Church fromthe pen of the Apostle Peter (1 Peter 2. 9).

As it was to Peter that our Lord was speakingwhen He made the first explicit disclosure ofthe Church, we are devoting the first chapterto a consideration of the declaration He thenmade.

That disclosure at Czesarea Philippi wasthe background of all Peter’s life, experience,and teaching ; and what he wrote by the Spiritenables us to understand more clearly theglory and beauty of the words of our Lord.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN

WESTMINSTERCHAPELLONDON, Azgust, 1937

PETER AND THE CHURCH

C HAPTER I

Cazsarea Philippi“Now when Jesus came into the parts of Cesarea

Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do mensay that the Son of Man is ? And they said, Some sayJohn the Baptist ; some, Elijah ; and others, Jeremiah,or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But who sayye that I am ? And Simon Peter answered and said,Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesusanswered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, SimonBar-Jonah; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it untothee, but My Father which is in Heaven. And I also sayunto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I willbuild My Church ; and the gates of Hades shall not prevailagainst it. I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdomof Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shallbe bound in Heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose onearth shall be loosed in Heaven” (Matt. 16. 13-19, R.v.).

EV E R Y student of the life and ministry ofour Lord is conscious of the importance ofGesarea Philippi. It was there, at the

close of three years’ ministry (some say twoand a half years), that our Lord created a crisisin the training of His disciples ; as, leading themaway from the crowded areas He challengedthem in the words, “ Who say ye that I am ? ”

They had been with Him during the previousperiod, observing Him personally, listening to

12 P ETER AND THE C H U R C H

His teaching, watching Him at His work.The hour was approaching when He wouldleave them as to bodily presence, and Heprepared them by this question for receivingthings from Him which He had never said tothem before. It was here and now that Hetold them three great secrets in connectionwith His ministry and purpose, those of theChurch, the Cross, and the second Advent.Whereas these had been implicit in His teachingbefore, it was now He made the first explicitannouncement concerning each,

We are concerned now with His declarationconcerning His Church. In these days whenthe question is being asked and discussed,“ What is the Church ? ” it is good to go backto the historic sources of information, for therewe find an account of its beginning, and arevelation of its purpose. In a very remarkableway certain foundation truths concerning thismatter were revealed by Christ in what is Hisfirst disclosure of purpose concerning HisChurch. They are found in these words, andwere addressed to Peter. His inquiry wasaddressed to the group, and it would seem thatmembers of the group had made answer to Hisfirst inquiry, “ Who do men say that the Sonof Man is ? ” for Matthew says : “ They said,some say John the Baptist ; some, Elijah,

CBSAREA PHILIPPI 13

and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”While His second question was asked of the

same company, one man answered, and thatwas Simon Peter. I think there is no reasonto doubt that he was expressing the convictionof the company.

Without further reference to the local setting,let us devote our attention to the declarationof the Lord Himself : “Upon this Rock I willbuild My Church ; and the gates of Hades shallnot prevail against it. I will give unto thee thekeys of the Kingdom of Heaven ; and what-soever thou shall bind on earth shall be boundin Heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt looseon earth shall be loosed in Heaven.”

In order to have an intelligent apprehension ofthe value of the declaration it is necessary thatwe should remind ourselves that His wordswere spoken to a company of Hebrews whonecessarily would interpret whatever there wasin the declaration of a figurative character bytheir religious training and knowledge of theSacred Writings.

In considering the declaration I proposethat we should consider the idea suggested bythe words “ My Church ; ” then the definitedeclaration made ; finally deducing from theconsideration an application to the subject ofthe Church.

14 PETER AND THE CHURCH

We inquire then, first, into the suggestivenessof the phrase which has become so familiar,“ My Church.” Our word “ Church, ” from thestandpoint of etymology does not strictly con-vey the thought embodied in the word em-ployed by our Lord. The word “ Church ” isderived from a Greek word meaning “the Lord’s, ”and is strictly accurate in describing the Church.But the word employed here, and everywherein the New Testament, is the word ml&a.It was a familiar word at the time, and it had aHebrew and a Greek application. As to theHebrew application, we find the word once inthe New Testament applied to the Hebrewpeople (Acts 7. 38), Stephen in his defencereferring to “ The Church in the wilderness.”This Hebrew use of the wordimarked the nationas a separate people, distinct from all othernations in the fact that they constituted aTheocracy, a God-governed people. It is in-teresting to note also that in every Greek cityat the time there was an Ecclesia. Referenceto such is found in Acts 19. 39. There is nodoubt that the supreme thought would be that ofthe Hebrew conception of a theocracy, althoughthe Greek idea might also enter into it. In thatidea it is to be borne in mind that no slave couldhold office therein, and the body in the Greekcity was the centre of governing authority.

CBSAREA PHILIPPI 15

The whole emphasis of our Lord’s utteranceis to be placed upon the personal pronoun” My.” He declared His purpose to build orcreate a people who should be a God-governedpeople, a Theocracy, and of transferring anoffice and responsibility to the new Institution.

Turning to the declaration itself, we noticetwo matters ; first, that of the foundation uponwhich the superstructure was to be reared ; andsecondly, our Lord’s intended action.

The foundation is described as “ This Rock.”Here admittedly we are in the presence of avery much disputed subject. It is not mypurpose at all to enter into these discussions,but to confine our thought very strictly to theactual statement made by Christ.

To understand this we need first of all togo back to the confession which Peter had justmade. In doing this, once more it must beremembered that Peter was a Hebrew, a childof the Hebrew race. He was born in its midst,and had been nurtured upon its thinking. Itwas upon the basis of these facts that hesaid to our Lord, first, “ Thou art theChrist.” That meant to him that He wasthe Fulfiller of all the expectations of theHebrew people, the One Who according tolong foretelling, would bring the economy toa new issue. The Hebrew seers, psalmists, and


prophets had all looked for the coming ofsuch an One. All their literature reveals themerging of an idea in a Person. To summarise,we may declare that such a Person was revealedas One Who should he zu ollce Servant andSovereign, that is, One Who should merge in Hisown Personality the gLeat offices of Priest andKing. Peter’s affirmation was that that Onehad now appeared. To that affirmation headded the phrase which marked his conscious-ness of the mystic nature of the Person, “ theSon of the living God.” The expression “ theSon ” stands in distinction from a son. I tmarks some unique relationship, and the rela-tionship was to the living God.

Now that expression, “ The living God,”crystalized the deepest conviction of the Hebrewpeople concerning Jehovah. Once more thewhole of their literature bears witness to thisfact. Other gods were unreal, not living. Onesentence of the Old Testament stands out insun-clear revelation of this conviction, that inwhich the psalmist said of idols : “ Neither i sthere any breath in their mouth.”

To Peter, then, the Son of man was seen asthe Messiah, the Administrator of the will andway of God, as the Son, bearing unique rela-tionship to God, and the living God as theultimate fact.

LEESAREA PHILIPP~ 17

It is to that ultimate fact that the definitereference was undoubtedly made, when ourLord said : “ Upon this Rock I will build MyChurch.”

Once more reminding ourselves that He wasspeaking to Hebrews, it is of great si@caflcet!l:it if we trace the figurative use of the word“Rock” throughout the Hebrew Scripture, wefind it is never used symbolically of man, butalways of God. The Hebrew word is the wordT.s~fr, and we find it occurring at least fortytimes figurAve!y in the Old Testament. Twiceit is nsed of false gods in Leuieronomy 32, asthey are put into contrast with the Rock ofIsrael, Who is the living God. In every otherinstance the figurative use of the word appliesto God.

The Rock therefore is the living God, andthose forming the Church are such as are builtinto Him, as Peter presently puts it in one ofhis li;~~t;.‘s, such as are “ partakers of the Divinenature.” The intention is very clearly revealedas we take the words of Peter once again, be-ginning at the end. First, “ the living God,”then One Who is “ the Son of the living God ” ;and finally, that One, the Messiah. Jesus said,” On that Rock I will build My Church,” thatis, on God manifest in time in His Son, andadministering the affairs of the world through2

18 PETER AND THE CH U R C H

that Son as Messiah. Peter had found thefoundation, the $&a, and by being broughtinto living touch with Him, had become petros,of the Rock nature.

Our Lord’s intended action was revealed inthe words, “ I will build.” In those words theone of supreme importance is the first, “ I.”We tarry for a moment, however, with theword “ build.” The word our Lord employedwas one that signified more than the mere actof building. The verb is built up of a noun,Oikos, a house, and &no, to build ; so that itindicates the idea of becoming a house-builder.Thus it has within itself the suggestiveness ofthe formation of a dynasty, or an economy,which is interpreted by the words we havealready considered, “ My ecclesia.” Thus thedescription of action harmonises completelywith the revelation of intention. When Paulwrote his letter to the Ephesians, he referredto the whole process as he spoke of ” One Lord,one faith, one baptism, one God . . . over all,and through all, and in all.”

The one Lord is the Messiah, Son of theliving God. The one faith is that of the humansoul exercised in Him. The one baptism is thatof the Holy Spirit wherein the believing soul isjoined to the Lord. The ultimate value is thecreation of a Church wherein God is over,

C~SAREA PHILIPPI 19

through, and in all its members and its cor-porate life. This mighty work is to be doneby Christ Himself, “ I will build.” The processof His activity is that of the revelation of Godthrough Himself, and the redeeming activitywhereby those responding to the revelation byfaith, become living stones, joined to the livingStone.

Two great facts are implicated as we thusplace our emphasis upon the Person of theBuilder. The first is that of the strength of thework done. This means that the building is im-pregnable and invincible. There can be noforce equal to the destruction of what He builds.The second implicate is that of the beautyand glory of the structure. It is characterisedby the infinite diversity of individualities, butthese all united in their ultimate likeness to Him.When Solomon built his temple we are toldthat he set up two pillars, named respectivelyJachin and Boaz. They were symbolic, thefirst standing for strength, and the second forbeauty. The suggestion of these symbolicpillars in the material temple of Solomon foundfulfilment in the spiritual House of God, whichis the Church, because He Who in Himself iseternal strength and eternal beauty is theBuilder.

The full realisation of the strength and beaut,y

20 P ETER AND THE CH~JRCHof the Church will only come in the glory of thesecond Advent of the Lord. To-day as we lookat her, we are conscious of much weakness, andcertainly often-times of a lack of beauty. Weneed to be reminded that our eyes are oftenfixed upon the scaffolding that surrounds thebuilding, rather than the building itself. Never-theless we all see something of the glory of theChurch in its individual members. How manywe have known, true Christly souls, who soshare His life that His beauty, His compassion,and His tenderness are all manilested throughthem. The time will come when He will presentHis Church to God, a glorious thing, not havingspot or wrinkle, or any such thing. It was inview of this, undoubtedly, Paul urged those towhom he wrote in his Corinthian letter, “ tokeep the unity of the Spirit in the bond ofpeace,” where the word “ keep ” means toobserve, or keep in view ; referring to the factthat the hour will come when “ we all attainunto the unity of the faith, and of the know-ledge of the Son of God, unto a full grown man,unto the measure of the stature of the fulnessof Christ. ”

Proceeding, our Lord declared what wouldbe the twofold value of His Church. The firstof these is found in His words : ” The gatesof Hades shall not prevail against it.”

CBSAREA PHILIPPI 21

The figure employed suggests not defensivestrength, but aggressive strength. A simpleconsideration of the figure of speech shows thatit cannot mean defence, because no attackingcity carries its gates with it. The Church israther seen at war, and the declaration is madethat the gates of Hades shall not prevail againstit. And yet once more, the figure does notsuggest that the Church will capture Hades.In that sense it is involved, and unless we lookclosely we may lose the meaning of the declara-tion. The figure is really that of escape fromHades. The Church is seen opening up a wayof escape from a beleagured city. Here the Lord,surveying the whole field of the conflict, refersto the last enemy which is to be destroyed,which is death, and declares that that mustyield to the onward march of His soldiers.That involves complete victory over that. whichhas caused death, namely sin, and over thatwhich issues from sin, namely sorrow. Thegreat enemies of the human race are sin, sorrow,and death, and in that order. Surveying thefield and the conflict, the Lord saw His Churchas an aggressive force conquering sin, over-coming sorrow, and therefore triumphant overdeath.

It is of great, value that we remind ourselvesin passing that that word of OUT Idi has been


fulfilled, and is being fulfilled in the case of allHis followers who pass to death. All such wintheir victory over sin through His Cross, oversorrow, by communion with Him, and at lastover death in the sure triumph of the certaintythat death is but the gateway into life. Thusthe Church is an aggressive army, for evermoreleading the way out of the realm of sin, sorrow,and death into that of purity, joy, and life.

The second fact implicated in the words ofour Lord is that symbolised by the keys. ” Iwill give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom ofHeaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind onearth shall be bound in Heaven ; and whatso-ever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed inHeaven.”

It is well that we note at once that whereasthese words were addressed to Peter, theyreally applied to him as a representative mem-ber of the Church. When a little later our Lordwas speaking to His disciples, He used theplural pronoun as He said : “ Verily I say untoyou, What things soever ye shall bind on earthshall be bound in Heaven ; and what thingssoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosedin Heaven (18. 18).

In the statement to Peter two phrases areof supreme importance, “ the keys,” and thereference to binding and loosing. These were

CBSAREA PHILIPPI 23

phrases connected with the office of the scribes.Those hearing our Lord speak were perfectlyfamiliar with the phrase “ the keys.” Theyconstituted the insignia of the office of thescribe who was the teacher of the Law of God.The keys were symbols, not of priestly office,but of moral interpretation. When our Lordhad uttered the parables of the Kingdom inchapter thirteen, He ended with the words :” Every scribe who hath been made a discipleto the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a manthat is a householder, which bringeth forthout of his treasure things new and old.”

When Peter made his great confession heshowed that he was a scribe instructed in theKingdom of Heaven. Therefore there wascommitted to him and all those who weresimilarly instructed, the keys by which to openthe treasure-house, and bring forth things newand old. The keys of the Kingdom were thuscommitted to the illuminated, to those whounderstood the principles of the Kingdom, thelaws of the Kingdom, the method of the King-dom. Thus the Church is seen not merely as anaggressive force, moving against all the enemiesof God and man, but a constructive force in themidst of each age, declaring what are the lawsof the ultimate Kingdom of God.

Closely connected with this word of Christ


are the words : “ Whatsoever thou shalt bindon earth shall be bound in Heaven ; and what-soever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosedin Heaven.”

Here again we have phrases that had distinctrelationship to the office and work of thescribes. Binding meant the declaration of thatwhich was obligatory, and loosing meant thedeclaration of that which was optional. InJewish literature we find the phrases used some-times when putting great teachers into con-trast, as when it is said : “ Hillel looses this, butShammai binds it.” Whatever the subject, itsimply meant that Hillel’s view was that it wasoptional, and Shammai’s that it was obligatory.Thus the Church in the world holds the keys ofthe interpretation of the Divine will, and iscalled upon to erect the moral standards forthe world. Whatever the Church binds isobligatory. Whatever it looses is optional. Ofcourse all this depends entirely upon the idealof the Church already set forth. What theChurch binds on earth is bound in Heaven,because it is Heaven’s law, and thereforeoriginally bound in Heaven. Similarly, what theChurch looses on earth is loosed in Heaven,because primarily it is loosed in Heaven andfrom Heaven’s standpoint is an optional matter.

I

CBSAREA PHILIPPI 25

This applies to all the sides of human life,personal, social, national.

It is well that we remember that every highideal recognised by men in the world to-day hasbeen learned from the Church. The final ethicfor the world came through Christ. Everythingthat is truly high and noble and uplifting inthe thinking and legislation of the nations, hascome out of His heart by the interpretation ofHis Church.

It is most significant in this connection thatwhen our Lord had made this great declarationHe charged His first disciples “ that they shouldtell no man that He was the Christ.” At firstit seems a strange charge to have laid uponthem. It would seem as though their onebusiness was to go out, and to declare and provethat He was, as Peter had confessed Him, thevery Christ of God. And yet He thus chargedthem. I think we shall find our explanation ofwhat may appear to be a difficulty, by remind-ing ourselves of what He had said to Peter,after Peter had made his confession : “Blessedart thou, Simon Bar-Jonah ; for flesh andblood hath not revealed it unto thee, but MyFather Who is in Heaven.”

Conviction concerning the’ office of Christwill not come by dialectical methods. TheChurch is not called upon to preach theories


about Him, but to bring men into contact withHim, that so there may come to them personaland individual illumination and regeneration.

Thus we have attempted to consider thisfirst disclosure of the Church as given by theLord Himself ; and at least there are certainfacts which it makes perfectly clear. The firstis that men do not come to Christ through theChurch ; and the second, resulting from that,is the revelation of the fact that men come intothe Church through Christ. Every newbornsoul is a member of the Church. Thus, aftera lapse of years, and out of a varied andfull experience, Peter, to whom the first wordsof disclosure were addressed at Czesarea Philippi,n o w writing as the result of their inter-pretation by the Spirit to him, and within theChurch itself, declares of that Church : ” Yeare an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holynation, a people for God’s own possession, thatye may show forth the excellencies of HimWho called you out of darkness into His mar-vellous light.”

The Setting and Structureof the Passage

P ETER AND THE C H U R C H 29

CHAPTER II

The Setting and Structure of the Passage

AS a preliminary to our consideration, letus read two passages, and as we readthem, let us imagint that we have never

seen them before. I go first to Matthew 16.13-20 ; and then to 1 Peter 2. 1-12.

The readings constitute the background ofthe meditations, of this and the following threechapters. But our attention is to be concen-trated on one passage, I‘ Ye are an elect race, aroyal priesthood, a holy nation, a people forGod’s own possession, that ye may show forththe excellencies of Him Who called you out ofdarkness into His marvellous light ” (1 Peter2. 9, R.V.).

It is forty years since that passage leapt atme, gripped me, mastered me, and for these fortyyears it has been with me ; a growing sense ofits glory and value possesses me ; and it is myprivilege to invite my brothers and sisters inthe holy Faith to come to that familiar passage,and consider it with some care, with as muchcare, that is, as is possible in the brief space


of four chapters ; and to consider it in the lightof its context.

I ask you to observe, in the first place, thatwe have here Peter’s description of the Churchof God. For rhetorical beauty it is unsur-passed in my judgment in the whole of the NewTestament ; but it is far more than a piece ofrhetoric. If I do not degrade the Sacred Writ-ings, I shall say it is a singularly clear, scientificdescription of the Church. I venture to thinkthere is nothing more luminous, or radiant, orwonderful to be found in the whole of the NewTestament ; and I believe that to appreciateit is to understand at once the privilege and theresponsibility of Churchmanship. In thesedays one supreme necessity of the hour is torediscover the true function of the Church ofGod, and its place in human history.

Our Lord used the word “ Church ” for thefirst time, according to the records, in speakingto Peter. He only used it twice ; here in the16th chapter of Matthew, and again in the18th. Here He was speaking to Peter as therepresentative of the rest ; and in Matthew 18,speaking to the group as they were gatheredtogether, the nucleus of His Holy Church,

It is a significant fact, and I only mentionit in passing, but neither in the words of Peterrecorded in the Acts of the Apostles, nor in his

T HE S ETTING AND STRUCTURE 31

Letters, is the word ” Church ” ever used. Henever used the word in speeches preserved forus, or in letters which abide for us. Luke tellsus in the Acts that he acted with the Church,and he tells us how the Church prayed for him ; sothat we may say that here, in the midst of thisFirst Letter of his, there emerges suddenly thisradiant passage than which, as I have said, thereis nothing more wonderful, nothing more com-plete in its description of the Church of Godto be found anywhere in the writings of theNew Testament.

It is an interesting line for speculation as tohow it is that Peter did not say more about theChurch. Elvet Lewis, that great poet-preacherof Wales, once said that Jude had intended towrite a treatise on salvation but was prevented.He tells us at the beginning of his letter--” WhileI was giving all diligence to write unto you ofour common salvation”-that he could not do it,but had to write something else, because bythe Spirit’s guidance Paul was already thewriter of the great document on salvation. Bethat as it may, I think Peter, the one to whomthe first word was spoken about the Church,under the guidance of the Holy Spirit knewthat the mystery of the Church, and its inter-pretation, were not committed to him, but toPaul. Nevertheless, here, in this wonderful


writing, addressing those who were of theDispersion, largely PIebrew Christians unques-tionably, but all of them Christians, and,consequently members of the Church, he sud-denly drops into this marvellous description,rhetorically beautiful, scientifically accurate, ofall the truth concerning the Church. He wroteto those who were scattered ; he wrote also bythe Holy Spirit to the Christians of 1937, fordates are human, principles are eternal.

In this chapter I propose that we considerthis great statement in its setting and in itsstructure. It is well sometimes to see wherewe are going.

In chapter 3 I shall take the first two phrasesof interpretation : “ An elect race, a royalpriesthood.” In chapter 4, I propose to takethe second two phrases : “ A holy nation, apeople for God’s own possession.” In chapter 5,the great central declaration of why we arewhat we are: “ Ye are . . . that ye may.”

Now for a few minutes let us take a verytechnical look at the passage in the light of itscontext. The verse opens with “ but.” I wantyou to notice that that “ but ” cancels another“ but,” and the other “ but ” is found in verse 7:“ For you, therefore, which believe, is thepreciousness ; but for such as disbelieve.” Peterdeals with such, tells the truth about them, and

T HE S ETTING AND S T R U C T U R E 33

then he comes back cancelling the ” but ” ofverse 7, with the “ but ” of verse 9 : “ But yeare ”-in contradistinction to those referred t oafter the first “ but “-I‘ Ye are an elect race.”And that “ but ” connects what we have here,with all that has gone before, and all that liesaround it.

Look once more with me a little carefullyat this-” But for such as disbelieve . . . butye are.” There is a contrast, and that connectswith the words found in verses 5 and 7. Let uslook at these. Verse 5 : *‘ Ye also, as livingstones, are built up a spiritual house, to be aholy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Nowtake the first part of verse 7--” For you there-fore which believe is the preciousness.” Wemust have those things in mind if we are intel-ligently to understand the thought of theApostle here. The main argument gives thereason for what this chapter starts with,

Look back to the beginning now: “ Puttingaway therefore all wickedness, and all guile, andhypocrisies,” and so on. That is the great appealof the Apostle, and what follows gives the reasonfor the putting away of all those evil things.Why should sin be put away ? Well, finally,because we are “ an elect race,” we are “ a royal

8


priesthood,” we are “ a holy nation,” we are‘, a people for God’s own possession.”

Then we look once more at the opening of thechapter : ”Putting away therefore . . . ” Everyintelligent student of the Bible knows thatwherever we see a “ therefore ” we say “ where-fore ? ” “ Therefore ” means that all that hasto be said is dependent upon something thathas already been said. So here again, we needa good deal more context than I have space todeal with ; suffice it to say now that we need thewhole first chapter. Then we see the results :” Putting away, therefore.” The “ therefore ”which answers the “wherefore ” is found inchapter 1. Every preacher of the Word of Godknows that he can never deal adequately withany text, and that for the reason that it demandsthe context.

My friend, my very dear friend, Dr. JohnHutton, once said-and I commend this to allmy brethren in the ministry-” If a man takesa text without the context it is a pretext.” Thatis a tremendous truth. But then if we are goingto deal with any verse in the Bible the contextis all the Bible.

At any rate here we do need chapter 1. Inthat chapter we find, first of all an introduction,the introduction of the Apostle to his readers.Then follows, in verses 3 to 5, a great doxology:

T H E SETTING AND STRUCRJRE 35

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord JesusChrist, Who . . . begat us again unto a livinghope,” and so on.

Thereafter comes a great parenthetical passagein verses 6 and 7, and certain injunctions, which,when we have read, we find that Peter waswriting for the strengthening of those who werepassing through a time of trial, and was urgingthem to steadfastness in the great forces of theirlife in Christ Jesus. Now that is where thispassage occurs. Forgetting the local circum-stances we are brought face to face with theseessential things of the Christian faith, and of theChristian Church, and of Christian relationshipwithin that Church. They reveal what was thesource of strength for them, and it is a sourceof strength for us. This is all very technical,but it is important.

Now for a few moments passing from thatsubject of the setting of the declaration, let uslook at its structure. What do we find in it ?First of all, the description of an instrument.The Church is revealed here as a medium ofmanifestation, a vehicle of vision, an instru-ment of illumination. The Church is seen herepurposeful-of which more anon. Then wehave a description of the Church, a fourfolddescription : “ An elect race, a royal priesthood,a holy nation, a people for God’s own pos-


session.” Then simply, if we have the descrip-tion of the instrument, we have the simpledeclaration of the purpose for which thatinstrument exists in the world. Why thisChurch ? Why this “ elect race, this royalpriesthood, this holy nation, this people forGod’s possession ? “ That ye may show forththe excellencies, the praises “-the old word isa beautiful word, but “excellencies” is a littlenearer the mark, perhaps. The instrumentdescribed exists in order that God may berevealed to the world.

Let us look at that a little more closely, con-sidering what I venture to describe at themoment as the more complex structure, thoughit is not complex. If we take that statement,that wonderful statement, and ponder it, weshall find three things that are of value. Firstof all, SW @imifiLe oj t/w Church is revealed.Secondly, as we have said, and will show morefully, the purpose of the Church is unveiled ; and,finally, the power of the Church is im@xted.

Now I want to do with that verse what isapparently a very ruthless thing. I want totear it to pieces. My comfort is that if we tearto pieces these great statements of Scripturethey are still there when we have done ourtearing. Some of you in studying Botany foundthat-perhaps you may be experts therein, I am

T HE SETTING AND S T R U C T U R E 37

not, but you cannot gainsay what I am goingto say-the study of Botany necessitated thetearing to pieces of flowers. I think that is onereason why I never excelled in Botany; I hateddoing so. But there are beauties in flowers whichwe cannot see until we have plucked them topieces; then we discover the exquisite beautythat lies within every one of them. If we wantto know the flower in the crannied wall, wemust pluck it out of the cranny, and hold itin our hand, see it roct and all, and all in all,and then we discover all its glories.

I ask you, then, first of all to leave out of thisstatement every descriptive phrase, the verythings that lend glory to it. Feel your way intoits simplest statement. What is it ? Leave outthose phrases that describe the instrument:“ Elect race, royal priesthood, holy nation, apeople for God’s own possession ” ; and leaveout what is said as to the purpose-to whichwe, of course, are coming back-of all thosethings.

Now what have we left ? Not very much,have we now ? Only the simple statement :“ Ye are . . . that ye may.‘: “ Ye are”-nevermind what. “ That ye may “-what ? Nevermind what. The statement is a revelation of theprinciple that the Church of God is not an end,but a means to an end ; that there is a meaning


to its existence in the world; that when Jesussaid, *‘ I will build My Church,” to this self-same man, Peter, He was not speaking of thegathering out of an elect company while all theworld should drift to darkness and the Devil.He was revealing the fact that He was creatingan instrument.

Here is the deepest principle in the life of theChurch, that which we must never forget. Sheexists for a purpose. That may be said in somesense of every work of God. It may be a low levelof illustration, but we can take the meanestflower that blossoms on the sod, and we canlook at it, and say : “ Little flower, ye are thatye may.”

You are all familiar with Gray’s ” Elegy.”Do you remember he said in that “ Elegy “-“ Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.”How true that is ! There are myriads of themover these hills of ours. They are everywhere.“ Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.”And then he went on-and here I quarrel withhim : “ To waste its sweetness on the desertair.” Never ! He was simply thinking therewas no man there to look at it, no woman topluck it, no child to spoil it. No flower wastesits sweetness on the desert air. In the greateconomy of the universe of God, nothing walkswith aimless feet in that sense. It has always

T HE S ETTING AND S T R U C T U R E 39

been true ; it is the rock basis of truth concerningGod’s ancient people, the Hebrew nation. It isbecause they forgot it that they perished as anation, that they became a people scatteredand peeled over the whole earth. “ I will makeof thee a great nation, and I will bless thee andmake thy name great . . . and in thee shall allthe families of the earth be blessed.” That isGod speaking, and revealing His purpose.

It is true of the Church. I am concerned inthese chapters that we should recognise thisprinciple. Where shall we apply it ? To ourChurch. I am not talking now denomination-ally. I am not talking of the Church of whichyou are a member. What is the good of yourChurch ? Well, we are having a good time ; andwe enjoy our fellowship. Is that all ? Thenwrite “ Ichabod ” across the front door, andclose it, and underneath the ” Ichabod ” write,“ Business suspended here.” What is the goodof your Church ?-“ Ye are . . . that ye may.”

Oh, wondrous Church of Jesus, purchasedwith His own blood, gathered into union withHimself ! Why this Church on earth ? “ Thatye may ! ” We shall come back to this for amore careful consideration subsequently.

We have not only that master principlerevealed. Let us restore something we left out ;not the descriptive phrases, leave them out still.

40 PETER AND THE CKURCH

Then what have we left ? “ Ye are . . . that yemay show forth the excellencies of Him Whocalled you out of darkness into His mar-vellous light.” Think of it in our world to-day.We are hearing on every hand, hearing it inmost unexpected quarters, that what the worldneeds is God. The world is waiting for theWord of God. How is the world to hear it ?How is the world to find God ? “ Ye are “-whatever you are-that ye may reveal Him. Ifonly that truth might grip our hearts as noutterance of mine can make it, as no intona-tion of my voice can accomplish-the Churchexists for a purpose, and the purpose is therevealing of the excellencies of God !

Then the next cry comes out of the heart ofevery individual, and goes up from the con-sciousness of the Church itself. Who is sufficientfor these things ? How can the Church fulfilthat function ? How can the Church be themedium of manifestation, as I have said, thevehicle of vision, the instrument of illuminationconcerning God ? How can it be done ? We aretold that we must organise. God forbid ! TheChurch is cursed with organisation from end toend ! How then ? By a realisation, experimentaland powerful, of the great facts of what theChurch is in herself! Thus we have not only theprinciple that she exists for a, purpose, not only

THE SETTING AND STRUCTURE 41

the declaration of the purpose-the revelationof God-but the implication of the secrets ofpower. This we find in the description of theinstrument, The Church is able to fulfil thepurpose in the revelation of God because she iswhat she is.

Now we can restore the rest of our passage: “Anelect nation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,a people for God’s own possession.” As an electrace the Church consists of those who are thekin of Christ, sharing His life. As the Churchrealises what it means to be a royal priesthoodshe is equipped for being the instrument ofChrist. As the Church enters into all the valuesof the fact that she is a holy nation, she isrevealing the Kingdom of Christ, the realm ofChrist. Finally, summing up all the other things,as the Church is indeed a people for God’s ownpossession, she reveals to the world the victoryof Christ. Christ-Christ-Christ ! But “ Godwas in Christ,” and it is through that revelationas I have said, that the Church will fulfil hergreat vocation in the world.

These are generalities. We are almost boundto consider the theme in these studies from thestandpoint of generalities. I pray God it mayapply to you and to me individually, as Christwill enable.

I first heard it in America, you may know it,


it is doggerel if you like, and it has been bandiedabout here and there, and yet, as God is mywitness, I never hear it without feeling itssearching power ;

“What sort of a Church would my Church be,If every Church member were just like me ? ”

Oh, the spacious glory of the ideal in thispassage ! Yet it is no use our seeing it andadmiring it ; it is no use thinking we are all rightbecause ” the Ark is here.” It is when weapply these things to our own individual lives,and put them in relationship thereto and thussee where we stand, that we are moving towardsthe fulfilment of God’s purpose.

The First Two Interpretations

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PETER AND THE CHURCH 45

CHAPTER III

The First Two Interpretations

LET us preface our meditation by readingone or two sentences found in those in-timate conversations of our Lord with

His own disciples ere He left them on theearthly level. Therefore we turn to John 15.15 and 16 : “ No longer do I call you servants ;for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth ;but I have called you friends ; for all things thatI heard from My Father I have made knownunto you. Ye did not choose Me, but I choseyou, and appointed you, that ye should go andbear fruit, and that your fruit should abide ;that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father inMy Name, He may give it you.”

These are sentences, as I have said, from thosewonderful final conversations of Jesus withHis own disciples before He left them. He waslooking with clear vision to all the future ; theywere still living in the midst of mists andmysteries. He was saying to them things whichthe Holy Spirit would bring to their remem-brance after His bodily presence had passed out


of their sight. In these words we find the back-ground for our meditation.

The subject for our four meditations is foundin one verse, 1 Peter 2. 9 : “ Ye are an electrace, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peoplefor God’s own possession, that ye may showforth the excellencies of Him Who called youout of darkness into His marvellous light.”The King James version is a great version. Ilove it with all my heart. It is indeed ” a wellof English undefiled.” Nevertheless some ofthose great translators knew their Englishbetter than their Hebrew or Greek. ThereforeI am using the Revised Version.

In chapter 2 we looked at the setting of thisstatement in this wonderful letter, and attemptedto observe its structure. There were threethings we noticed, and I shall content myselfwith a reference to them, and pass on.

We saw that if we take that statement, andstrip it of much of its glorious verbiage, andfeel our way to the central sentence we find itin the words : ” Ye are . . . that ye may.” Inthese words there is revealed the principle ofthe Church’s life. She exists, not as an end., butas a means to an end. When our Lord said toPeter at Caesarea Philippi, “ Upon this rockI will build My Church,” He was indicatingHis intention and determination to create a

THE F IRST Two INTERPRETATIONS 47

medium of manifestation, a vehicle of vision, aninstrument of illumination, in the interests ofthe world which God so loved ” that He gaveHis only begotten Son, that whosoever believethon Him should not perish, but have eternallife.” “ Ye are . . . that ye may ” is the principle.

Then we noticed that which is on the surface ;that if the principle be that the Church existsfor a purpose, the purpose is clearly revealed.I‘ Ye are, . . . that ye may show forth the excel-lencies of Him Who called you out of darknessinto His marvellous light.”

Then we looked once more, and asked thequestion : “Who is sufficient for these things ?”What institution can be called to such a pur-pose as that ? When Peter tells us the story ofthe Church in four phrases, we find implicatedthe secrets of power whereby she may fulfil herpurpose ; she is ” An elect race, a royal priest-hood, a holy nation, a people for God’s ownpossession.”

Now we take two of those phrases ofinterpretation, helping us to understand howthe Church is to fulfil her vocation. She is“ an elect race ; ” she is “ a royal priesthood.”

We begin with the first of them: “ An electrace.” I want to remind you first of the thoughtbehind that word of Jesus which I read to you,when He said to that little group of His first


disciples before He left them : “ Ye did notchoose Me, but I chose you.” For a moment Iam not interested in the reason for His choosing.I ask you to remember, my fellow-students ofthe Word, that the word that Jesus used, whenHe said, ” I chose you,” is the word “ elect.”We should not be wrong if we read it, “ I electedyou.” I am not dealing with it now save as webear it in mind.

Two things demand our attention in thisfirst phrase-an adjective and a noun, “ dect ”and “ race.” I am going to put special emphasisupon the noun ; of course I am not going toleave out the adjective ” elect.”

Now I go back to the beginning of the Letter,and I find Peter says : ” Peter, an Apostle ofJesus Christ, to the elect, . . . according to theforeknowledge of God the Father, in sanctifica-tion of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinklingof the blood of Jesus Christ.” He was writingto people who were chosen out, who wereelected, according to that foreknowledge.

We find, as we read the Letter, that there arecertain sentences, showing how closely thethought of election is identified with the ideaexpressed in the word “ precious ” and ‘I pre-ciousness. ” Let us compare two or three para-graphs in the 1st and 2nd Epistles where thisgreat description of the Church is found. I go

THE F IRST Two INTERPRETATIONS 49

back to verse 4, and I read, “ Unto Whomcoming, a living Stone, rejected indeed of men,but with God, elect, precious.” The referenceis to Christ. God’s election of Christ is basedupon His preciousness. Then turn over to the2nd Letter of Peter, verse 1, “ To them thathave obtained a like precious faith.” Then onto the 4th verse : “ Whereby He hath grantedunto us His precious and exceeding greatpromises.” Once again in 1 Peter 2. 7 : “ Foryou, therefore, which believe is the preciousness ;but for such as disbelieve,

“ The stone which the builders rejected,“ The same was made the Head of the corner.”

1 Then go back again and read : “ Behold, Ilay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious.”

“ The stone which the builders rejected,“ The same was made the Head of the corner. ”“ For you therefore which believe is the

preciousness.”Let us gather up the thoughts suggested by

those scattered sentences, and gain from themthe main ideas.

We see in those verses 4 and 6 of the 2ndchapter of Peter’s first Epistle that Christ isdescribed as “ elect “-“ precious,” that is,chosen by God. God’s election is based uponthe preciousness of Christ. “ Precious ” is avery remarkable word, not so much from the

4

5 0 P ETER AND THE C H U R C H

standpoint of its etymology, or derivation, asfrom the’ standpoint of our use of it. There isa special value in it.

Peter speaks of those who exercise faith inChrist, as coming to a living Stone, and so asbecoming themselves living stones. Now I amgoing to make use of the word “ precious ” inthat connection, by way of illustration. “ Livingstones ” are precious stones. What do we meanwhen we talk about “ precious stones ” ? Well,it may be that some of you can look at yourhands and see diamonds, rubies, sapphires !What then is a precious stone ? In an ancientprophecy we find the phrase, “ Stones of fire.”These are ” precious stones.” What makes thatstone, that diamond, that sapphire, that ruby,a precious stone ? Why firecious ? Of course,precious may simply mean priceless. Yet thereis a peculiar value that we have wrought intothe word precious.

What makes a stone precious ? I do not knowthat this is scientific ; I am not very carefulto know ; but I suggest to you that a preciousstone is an illustration of passion mastered byprinciple. Elements which in themselves wouldbe fleeting and valueless are held together bysome principle that makes them precious,priceless. Christ is a living Stone, e l ec t ,precious !

THE FIRST Two INTERPRETATIONS 51

Some years ago that remarkable journalist,Mr. Gardiner, wrote a book, “ Prophets, Priests,and Kings. ” It was a great book, for he had analmost inimitable skill in characterising certainpersonalities. Some of my American friendsmust let me refer to it on principle, not from anyother standpoint. He wrote characteristicallyof William Jennings Bryan, that remarkableman who was loved by the Democrats ofAmerica, and contrariwise by the Republicans.Gardiner says of him this very remarkablething. I am using it as an illustration. He saidthat he was “an elemental man, lacking pre-ciousness ; ” a man of elemental strength, hewent on to show, who lacked something thatwelded the elements into consistency and co-herence and made them strong. I am notsaying whether he was right, or no. Gardinermust have had the Biblical background in histhinking, or he would never have used thatword ” precious ” in that way.

Peter, who wrote this Letter, was exactlythat, until Christ met him. He was an elementalman, and he lacked preciousness. I am goingto employ an Americanism-a great soul ever“ slopping over.” Jesus met him, and said,“ Thou shalt be rock ! ” He turned him from ashifting, elemental personality into a livingstone, precious. And what was it that did it ?


If you say, “ The influence that Christ exertedupon him,” you are giving a very partialanswer ; but I am not quarrelling with it.There is more than that to be said: “ UntoWhom coming, a living Stone, . . . elect, pre-cious,” that is, on the basis of His absolutepreciousness to God.

Christ was the one Person, may I reverentlysay, in all human history, in Whom all theelemental things of human nature (not fallenhuman nature) were welded into strength andpurity and beauty and uprightness and glory.He was precious, and therefore elect.

“ Ye are an elect race.” And why ? Because“ for you therefore which believe is the precious-ness.” Here the King James version hasmissed the point, and yet we have loved it somuch all our lives: “ Unto you that believeHe is precious.” That. is very beautiful andvery true, but it is not what was written byPeter. He is precious to those who believe.Oh, how precious !

“Jesus, the Name high over all,In hell, or earth, or sky ;

Angels and men before it fall,And devils fear and fly.

“Jesus ! Oh, the sweetnessOf the soft love sound!

How it thrills and tremblesTo creation ‘D bound ! ”

T HE FIRST ‘ho IN T E R P R E T A T I O N S 53

He is precious to me, but that is not i t .The statement of the Apostle is that all inHim, which made Him elect and precious toGod, is ours. It is made over to us as we believe.“ For you therefore which believe is the pre-ciousness. ” If we can climb the heights, andplumb the depths, and encompass the vastnessof the things which constitute the preciousnessof Christ, then pause and consider and rememberthis, that all those things are made over to thebeliever in Christ ; they are at his, or herdisposal ; they are at the disposal of the Church ;they belong to the people of God. “ For youtherefore which believe is the preciousness.”

“ An elect race.” Here again the Revisershave changed a word ; I do not know if theyhave improved it in this case at all. “ A chosengeneration.” I rather like “ generation ” here,and yet “ race ” has its value. Here again wecome down to technicalities. What is a race ?Let me say that the word “ race ” connotes lifealways. We have constantly in our English lan-guage taken hold of words from other languagesand embodied them in our own, until we thinkthey are English.

You all know the word gels ; you rememberat school you learned about certain genera.Well, genus 1s the Latin form of the Greek word,genes. “ Ye are an elect genes-race.” That


word in the New Testament is translatedvariously, but always there is the same idealying behind it. The word is translated as here,race, kindred, stock, offspring, countrymen.Behind every one of them is this thought of alife principle, and it always refers to a lifeprinciple common to all referred to.

I want to illustrate that, but I am a littlenervous lest you should think me irreverent.However I will dare it. You learnt about thefeline race when you went to school. What doyou mean ? Cats ! And about the canine race-dogs. And about the bovine race-cattle. Andthe equine race-horses. And the humanrace. Now to take one of those. What do youmean by the canine race ? All those that sharea quality of l’f1 e, peculiar to that race, notshared by any other. A member of the caninerace is the dog, of which there are variousspecies. The St. Bernard is a dog ; so is thePekinese, though you might hardly think so !There is a quality of life that links the Pekinesewith the St. Bernard. We have yet to find thescientific explanation of that ; but the factremains they all share the same quality of life.Then there is the human race, not simian, butconsisting of all those beings-black or white, redor yellow-who share the same peculiar qualityof life which makes them men and women.

T HE F IRST Two INTERPRETATTONS 55“ Ye are an elect race.” This reveals the very

foundation of Christian experience, and of thefact of the Holy Church of God. It is constitutedof those who live, and whose life is characterisedby similarity ; all the same race. “ Ye are anelect race,” chosen because precious, and pre-cious because living one life, God’s life, asplaced at our disposal in Christ.

Made “ partakers of the Divine nature,” saysthe second Epistle ; and we are made partakersof the Divine nature because we share the lifeof Christ. That is what the new birth is. It isnot making up our mind that we will turn overa new leaf. It is not facing our own sins, andstruggling and wrestling with them until wecome out on the winning side. It is being bornanew. It is receiving the gift of the Christ-lifeby the ministry of the Holy Spirit : “ Elect . . .according to the foreknowledge of God ; ” beingset apart by the Holy Spirit through faith that isin Christ Jesus. The Church consists of such asby faith receive His life, and, therefore, Hispreciousness, and, therefore, His election. “ Anelect race.”

So we pass to the second of these interpretingphrases-“ a royal priesthood.” Here again wehave adjective and substantive. I am, for themoment, more deeply interested in the adjectivethan in the substantive. In the 16th of

Matthew, Peter is speaking. I have no authorityfor saying it, but I think he was looking straightinto the eyes of Jesus, and he said to Him,“ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the livingGod ! ” We must not forget that this was aHebrew speaking. When he said, “ Thou artthe Messiah,” he was employing a term thatmarked a twofold fact as revealed in all thepredictions of the past concerning Messiahship.

The Messiah, according to the sacred writings,was One Who should wear a crown of kingship,but His crown would take the form of the mitreof priesthood. The Messiah, according to allthose ancient foretellings, was One Who shouldwear the ephod of priesthood, but it would bepurple as the insignia of royalty-King andPriest, Priest and King. But the time hadpassed ; Peter had gone through great ex-periences when he was writing these Letters.

He now said to those who were of the Disper-sion, and finally to the Church : You are a royalpriesthood, royal, kingly, sharing the kingly noteand character. Thi.s is the only time in the NewTestament where we have that adjective usedin that connection. It is the only occasion onwhich we read of a roynl priesthood. Thethought is that of the right of priesthood, that inwhich the priesthood finds its right as it isrevealed in the Apocalypse, where we read that

THE J?IIST Two I N T E R P R E T A T I O N S 57“ He made us to be a kingdom, to be priestsunto His God and Father ; to Him be the gloryfor ever and ever.”

Then we come to the idea of priesthood. Weconfine ourselves exclusively to the outlookfound in the New Testament. What is thisPeter said ? “ Ye also, as living stones, are builtup a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood,to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to Godthrough Jesus Christ.”

Behind the conception of priesthood, whetherit be true or false, there is always one thought-that of the right of access to God. All priest-hoods of pagan religions consisted of those whoclaimed to be an order that had the right toreach God on behalf of their fellow-men. Thatis the underlying idea--getting near to God,coming to God. Peter says concerning us,that as living stones we constitute a holypriesthood.

We are those who have the right of access toGod, and for one purpose, the offering ofspiritual sacrifices. What does that mean,offering spiritual sacrifices ? Prayer ? Yes.Praise ? Certainly. But it means somethingelse. It means that as a result of our priesthoodwe are able to come to God, bringing with usthose won for Jesus Christ, presenting them toHim. That is what Paul meant when he spoke


of the offering up of the Gentiles to God as theresult of his ministry.

So we come back to our word, “ royal.”Why royal ? Because we have been madeliving stones, sharing the very life of Christ,therefore we are royal. Our access to God isnot the access granted to those who hold office.

I remember during the days of the War, whenI was at Westminster in the earlier period.Right opposite our Church is Wellington Bar-racks, the headquarters of the Guards. Duringthe time that I was there the then Prince ofWales, was in training. I lived close to thePalace, and I saw during that period mencoming up to the gates, challenged, andadmitted. The Prime Minister, the Minister ofWar, great generals, all of them were admittedupon the basis of the fact that they heldoffice.

One day I happened to be crossing at the endof Birdcage Walk, and I saw the young Prince ofWales, as he then was, his drill for the morningover, coming out of the gates. He crossed theroad unattended and unguarded ; and he wentinto the gates of Buckingham Palace. No onechallenged him ; he went right into the Palace.What right had he to go ? His royal rank.He was the son of the king, and no one couldchallenge his right.

T HE F IRST Two IN T E R P R E T A T I O N S 59

We are a royal priesthood ; we have accessto God, because we can claim kinship withChrist. No one has any right to challenge youas you enter into His presence. I was there atWestminster all through the War ; I am thereonce again, by some mystery of God’s over-ruling governance that I do not understand.From the standpoint of Free Church life theking is in my parish. I am at peace with theking. But I do not call upon him, for I have noright of entry. But I have a right of entry intothe presence of the King of kings, and my rightof access is based upon my relationship to God’sSon.

In closing, let me remind you that priesthoodhas a double function for us. It is eucharistic.I love that word. I would always use it if I hadmy way at the Communion, because it means“the giving of thanks. ” It may mean other thingsto other people. The royal function of our priest-hood is first worship and then intercession ; andintercession breaks into two parts. The priestis first one who intercedes with God on behalfof men ; and then one who goes out to intercedewith men on behalf of God.

*’ Ye are a royal priesthood ” on the basis ofrelationship, on the terms of equality, whichcould not be but by reason of the wondrous

60 PETER AND THE C H U R C H

grace of God. And so we offer Him spiritualsacrifices ; and ever receive from Him, so thatthe Church is not only an elect race, the kin ofChrist, but a royal priesthood, the instrumentof Christ for this world.

P ETER AND THE C H U R C H

C HAPTER I V

The Second Two Interpretations

LET me briefly recapitulate the groundover which we have passed in our con-sideration of the passage (1 Peter 2. 9).

We discovered, first, the underlying principlein the simple words : ” Ye are . . . that ye may.”Whatever the Church is, she exists for a pur-pose. We saw also the simple and clear state-ment of what that purpose is. “ Ye are . . . thatye may show forth the excellencies of HimWho called you out of darkness into His mar-vellous light .” Finally we suggested that thepower in which the Church should be able tofulfil her purpose, upon the basis of that prin-ciple, is revealed in the descriptive phrases ofwhat she is in herself.

We have considered the first two phrases ofdescription-“ an elect race ; ” “ a royal priest-hood.” I want to say here t,hat these descriptivephrases must be taken in the order in whichthey occur. We cannot misplace them andconsider them intelligently. We cannot beginat the end. As we said at first, this is not merely


a piece of fine rhetoric, it is a scientific de-scription.

The Apostle begins with the first stage :“ An elect race.” There are some books thatclaim to be books on religion which have mis-appropriated the word “ Christian”’ and theword ” Science.” In them we can begin any-where. We can begin at the end and go back-ward, the meaning is the same ; which meansthat there is no meaning in the writing ! Wecannot do that with the Word of God, and cer-tainly we cannot do it here.

“ An elect race “-postulates life, and im-plicates that common quality of life possessedby those who are members of the holy catholicChurch ; chosen on the basis of preciousnessderived from Christ Himself. “ A royal priest-hood ”-reveals the right of access to God ofthose who share this life. They are made par-takers of the Divine nature, and so have akingly right of entry into the presence of GodHimself.

Now we proceed to take the next two phrasesof the description : “ A holy nation ; ” “ apeople for God’s own possession,” or as theKing James’ version renders it, “ a peculiarpeople,” thus missing much of the force of theApostle’s word.

Let us first look back, for our mind is arrested

THE SECOND Two INTERPRETATIONS 6 5

by that word “ nation.” We will read some-thing found in the Gospel according to Matthew,which is in very close connection with some-thing found in the context of the passage weare considering. We find, in the 21st chapter,the rulers gathered together with Jesus in theirmidst. He is seen in strange and august andkingly majesty. They are approaching theculminating action on their part as they re-jected Him. Our Lord has done a marvellousthing. He has been uttering parables ; that is,He told them some stories, and then asked theiropinion upon them, as stories. They were in-telligent men, and they gave their opinion ; andpresently they found out that He had beenmeaning them ; and He had compelled them,in that hour, to find a verdict against them-selves.

For instance, He told them the story of avineyard, and when He had finished, and haddescribed the failure of those who were re-sponsible for the vineyard, He asked them :“ When, therefore, the lord of the vineyardshall come, what will he do unto those husband-men ? ” They said at once : “ He will miserablydestroy those miserable men.” They werecaptured by the story ; they saw the iniquityof the thing described ; they were so emphaticabout it that they used that adjective twice,

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66 P E T E R AND THE C H U R C H

“ miserable.” ” He will miserably destroy thosemiserable men, and will let out the vineyardunto other husbandmen, which shall renderhim the fruits in their seasons.” Presently Hesaid to them : “ Did ye never read in theScriptures :

“ The stone which the builders rejected,“ The same was made the head of the corner ;” Therefore, say I unto you, the Kingdom of

God shall be taken away from you, and shall begiven to a nation bringing forth the fruitsthereof. And he that falleth on this Stone shallbe broken to pieces ; but on whomsoever itshall fall, it will scatter him as dust. And whenthe chief priests and the Pharisees heard Hisparables, they perceived that He spake ofthem.”

That is all I want at that point. Now turnto Peter : ‘I For you, therefore, which believeis the preciousness ; but for such as disbelieve,

“ The stone which the builders rejected,“ The same was made the head of the corner,I‘ And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of

offence ;“ For they stumble at the Word, being

disobedient, whereunto also they were ap-pointed. But ye are an elect race, a royalpriesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’sown possession.”

THE SECOND Two INTERPRETATIONS 67

The close relationship between the passageread in Matthew, and the apostolic teachingfound in this Letter is self-evident. I go backto these solemn words of Christ, words thanwhich none more solemn ever passed His holylips, when, in the presence of the rulers of thenation, He excommunicated that nation, thatis, not from the possibility of salvation indi-vidually, but from the sacred office for which ithad been created, and which, in the purpose ofGod it had been supposed to fulfil through allits history.

That nation was created in order that it mightbe a blessing to all the nations. “ I will blessthee and make thy name great.” “ I will makeof thee a great nation . . . and in thee shall allthe families of the earth be blessed.” Such aword was spoken to the father and founder ofthe national life, under the government of God ;and through all its history, rising and falling,that had been its office in the Divine purposeand economy. But the hour had come when thenation was rejected from that office.

Our Lord stood in the midst of the rulers,and said : “The Kingdom of God shall be takenaway from you, and shall be given to a nationbringing forth the fruits thereof.”

The nation had failed to fulfil its obligations ;and there was this culminating act of failure


approaching as it was rejecting Him. “ TheStone which the builders rejected.” Mark theforce of that ; an old, tried, and commonplaceword ; but do remember it. The experts re-jected the Corner-stone. What should happenbut that the whole superstructure should fallto pieces in that hour. That nation, as thedepository of the Kingdom of God, was solemnlyrejected. “ The Kingdom of God shall be takenfrom you, and shall be given to a nation bringingforth the fruits thereof.”

Now I come back. Peter having spoken ofthe Church as an “ elect race,” “ a royal priest-hood,” uses these words, ” a holy nation.” Weglance back once more. In Matthew we findour Lord, in the course of those wonderfuldiscourses which we describe, accurately, as theOlivet prophecies, saying : “ This Gospel ofthe Kingdom “-this good news of the King-dom-“ shall be preached in the whole world fora testimony unto all the nations.” All nationsare in view, and the declaration is made thatthis Gospel is to be preached for a testimony tothem.

Once again I pass on, and I hear Him saying,“ Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all thenations, baptising them into the Name of theFather and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.”“ Make disciples of all nations ” is not a strictly


accurate translation, in spite of our universalacception of it. It is not what our Lord said,as recorded by Matthew. There is no sub-stantive at all. What He said was : “ Go ye,therefore, and disciple all nations.”

We can disciple a nation without makingdisciples of its people. We can bring them underthe influence of the King, as to His Kingdom.That is the commission in Matthew ; but notin Mark ; he has another phase ; and so hasJohn, I commend you to take time to considerthe fourfold commission in the four Gospels.His people are to disciple the nations; it is thenations for which they exist. It is to a nationhaving responsibility for the nations that Peteris referring, and that our Lord was referring,when He said : “The Kingdom of God shall betaken away from you, and shall be given to anation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”

If we want to know what the fruits are wego back to Isaiah: “ Let me sing of my well-beloved, a song of my beloved touching Hisvineyard.” Our Lord quoted the essence of thatsong on this very occasion. They had failed;God had looked for righteousness, and, behold,oppression. Christ said : “ There shall be anation that shall bring forth those fruits, ‘aholy nation.’ ”

In the Church of God the fulfilment of the


intentions of God is to be enacted. That is thesense in which it is a holy nation. I am con-cerned with what is the burden of the thought,that this elect race, this royal priesthood, thispeople sharing the mysterious, glorious precious-ness of Christ, and having the right of access toGod, is to be among the nations a nation ofwitness. This nation has no earthly capital.This nation has no earthly army. Whenever anarmy has been raised to save it, its effortshave failed. This holy Church of God is anation.

We call to mind another very familiar passage;I commend it to you for your thought at someother time. When Paul was writing to theRomans, among other things in the passagehe said : “ I am debtor, both to Greeks and toBarbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.”What a great passage that is !

Have you noticed that he did not say : I amdebtor to the Jew. He said, a little later on :“ To the Jew first,” and that was always true.But here he said : ” I am a debtor to Greeksand to Barbarians, both to the wise and to thefoolish.” He was looking at the Gentile world,the illiterate and the literate. Paul was aHebrew of the Hebrews. Paul was a Greek byall his early associations and upbringing. Bornin Tarsus, no mean city, Paul was a Roman


citizen, as he claimed in his writings ; Paul aHebrew, Paul a Greek, Paul a Roman.

At this point he was Paul a Hebrew ; and as aHebrew he claimed that the first purpose ofGod in the Hebrew people was fulfilled in himas a Christian witness. He said, “I am a debtorto the outside world.” He was writing as onewho saw the Church fulfilling that responsi-bility in which his nation, according to the flesh,had failed and broken down. He said, “I am adebtor to the outside world.”

In this connection Peter employed a verysignificant word. “ A holy nation.” The holinesssprings out of the royalty, and the royalty ’comes from the fact of the election. Let us tarryfor a moment with that word holy. It is a wordthat means sanctified, separate, something thatfills the soul with a sense of awe. Awe is notslavish fear. Awe is that which possesses thesoul in the presence of something majestic,tremendous, (in that sense) awe-full How fear-fully we abuse our English at times ! Some-one said to me : ” It’s an awfully nice day ! ”The word holy then means that which fills thesoul with awe, and inspires it to worship.

If we glance through Peter’s Epistles, andnotice his use of the word “ holy,” we shalldiscover something more of value in the use ofthe word. You will find in 1 Peter 1. 12 he


speaks of “ the Holy Ghost.” In verses 15 and16 of that same chapter he says : “ Like as Hewhich called you is holy, be ye yourselves alsoholy in all manner of living ; because it iswritten, Ye shall be holy ; for I am holy.” Inverse 5 of the 2nd chapter he speaks of “ a holypriesthood,” and in 3. 5 of “ holy women.”

In the 2nd Epistle he refers to “ the holymount,” and speaks about ” holy men of God.”Later he speaks of the “ holy commandment ; ”and of the “ holy prophets ; ” and then of “ holyliving.” Wherever that word ” holy ” is used byPeter in these two Letters-I make no widerstatement for a moment-it is used in closeconnection, somehow, with the fact of God, andof relationship to God Who is Himself holy, andof the Holy Spirit of God.

The priesthood is holy to offer sacrifices toGod ; the women are holy because they hopedin God ; the mount is holy because there washeard the voice of God. Holy men of Goduttered the words of God and the command-ments of God. The prophets are holy becausethey were the messengers of God. When hespeaks of holy living he links it with the word“godliness. ” Holiness is that character whichresults from close relationship with God. This,then, is a holy nation, in order to witness to God.

The word “ nation ” connotes two ideas

T HE S E C O N D Two IN T E R P R E T A T I O N S 7 3

those of government and mutual inter-relation-ship ; and they are found in the Church of God.We have had two ideas of government in thehistory of nations, the monarchical and thedemocratic. During the past two decades wehave seen both of them break down hopelesslyin the history of the world.

Some of you in Sunday Schools may haveseen Sunday School text-books in which theyhave traced the history of God’s ancient people ;and there is one section in which you find aheading such as this : “ The Rise of theIsraelitish People to Monarchy.” You cannotpossibly use that title without denying theessential revelation of the Old Testament. Israeldemanded a king like the other nations. Theywere a Theocracy, a God-governed people.When Samuel, with a broken heart, went toGod about it, God said to him : “ They have notrejected thee ; but they have rejected Me, thatI should not be King over them.” That was nota rise, but a fall. Their subsequent historyshows what a fall it was.

Twenty years ago there was a war whichwe were told was to make the world safe fordemocracy. Since then man has establishedsome of the most appalling violations of thedemocratic principles that the world has everseen.


The Church is a nation under one Throne andGovernment. Listen to Peter with the highpriests, successors to, or some of the very menwho had rejected Jesus. They said : “Westraitly charged you not to teach in this Name,and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with yourteaching, and intend to bring this Man’s bloodupon us.” Peter replied : “ We must obey Godrather than men.” That is true about theChurch. The Church of God is not a monarchy ;not a democracy ; certainly not a plutocracy ;but a theocracy. She is a nation God-governed.

The Church of God is the depository of theKingdom of God in the interests of the world.What a wonderful word that was which wasuttered by Christ to those who stood roundabout Him: “ Fear not, little flock, for it isyour Father’s good pleasure to give you theKingdom.”

The Church is a holy nation by submissionto the Throne of God, and by a realisation ofthe benefits of its government. Here I want tosay this-1 may be challenged, but personally,I think it is here that the Church has most sadlybroken down in revealing to the world the realmeaning of the Kingdom of God in her corporatecapacity. Oh, the foolishness of our divisionsin the light of that ! It is essentially true that“ we are not divided ; all one body we.”


Sixty years ago I stood listening to my fatheras he talked with a man whose name will beknown to some of you even yet, Robert Chap-man, that great saint, that wonderful soul.They were talking about the divided nature ofChristendom, and they were lamenting it, andsuddenly Robert Chapman said to my fathersomething, which, listening as a lad, I havenever yet forgotten. ” Yes, God made His Churchone. He committed to us the earthen vessel,a representation of the unity, but He held inHis own hand the golden bowl. We havesmashed the earthen vessel, but the goldenbowl is still intact in the hand of God.”

Thank God, we believe that ! “ All one inChrist .” One of the great things in a Conventionis the recognition of that fact. But do not letus forget that we are a nation for the sake ofthe nations. Our business is to reveal to themthe beauty and the beneficence of the Kingdomof God.

Let us glance briefly at what is, perhaps, themost wonderful thing of all. This elect race,this royal priesthood, this holy nation, is apeople for God’s own possession. We look at that17th chapter of John in which our Lord, afterHis prayer concerning His relationship to HisFather, and concerning those around H i m ,moved forward, and said : “ Neither for these


only do I pray, but for them also that believeon Me through their word.” The whole catholicChurch was in His mind. Read that last section,and as you read it, discover our Lord’s thoughtconcerning His Church and the purpose for it.Here the whole thing is summarised : “ Apeople for God’s own possession . . . which intimes past were no people, but now are thepeople of God, which had not obtained mercy,but now have obtained mercy.”

“ A people for God’s own possession.” HereI want to content myself with saying one thing,and pressing it home. What do we mean whenwe speak of being possessed by God ? What isthe Divine possession ? Well, you say, it meansto belong to God. Unquestionably, but is thatall ? Is there not something in it infinitely morethan that, far more profound ? It means some-thing more than being merely God’s property.I may be His property, and He may be anabsentee landlord, owning me as His property,and collecting the rent from me weekly when Igo to Church. You see the absurdity of the idea !” A people for God’s own possession.” Daringlyit may be, and yet resolutely, I take the exactopposite.

We read in the New Testament of those whowere possessed by demons. Here we read of apeople possessed by God. I know the Greek


word is not the same, but it conveys the samethought. What was it to be possessed bydemons ? First of all, the demons had becomethe indwellers of a human personality, and theyhad, therefore, mastered the one so indwelt, and,finally expressed through the one so mastered,because indwelt, all the beastliness and abomin-ation of their whole devilish nature. I take thatas a picture. My missionary friends have seenit in China. I have seen it in London-humanfolk possessed by an evil spirit. The demonmastered everything, the intellectual, the emo-tional, the volitional nature, and there camethe revelation of the nature of the evil one.

A people God-possessed. What does it mean ?One in whom God has taken up His abode; atemple of the living God, in whom God isMaster of thought and emotion and will, there-fore one through whom there shines out uponthose who are round about the revelation ofwhat God is in Himself. That is what theChurch is to be. It is the medium of the revela-tion of God, a people for His own possession.One other word. That means a people in thepossession of whom God gains something ;and the people who are being thus possessedby God gain something. What does He gain ?A medium of manifestation.

Forty years ago there was published what was


called the Twentieth Century Version of theNew Testament. I only remember it because acopy was sent to me in advance, and I lookedit through ; and there were many things whichattracted my attention, and aroused my anger,and amused me. I am not talking of it as it isto-day ! I came across this, and I wrote atonce to the translator. They quoted that greatpassage of Paul : “ That ye may know . . . theriches of the glory of His inheritance in thesaints.” They transla.ted it : “ How great again saints have in God.” A terrible translation!No, God has an inheritance in the saints. Godgains. If we give ourselves to Christ, then Godenters in and indwells us, we become Hispossession, and in us He gains a vantage ground-in the home, in the place of business, in thesocial circle.

The Church is for the revelation of God, andthe glory of His Name. That great phraseindicates the victory of Christ, in all its fulness,and in all its completeness-” An elect race, aroyal priesthood, a holy nation, a people forGod’s own possession.”

PETER AND THE CH U R C H 81

CHAPTER V

The Ultimate Purpose

THE opening paragraph of Peter’s SecondEpistle is a wonderful condensation of thegreat theme we have been considering in

the previous chapters.“ Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of

Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained a likeprecious faith with us in the righteousness ofour God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Grace to youand peace be multiplied in the knowledge ofGod and of Jesus our Lord ; seeing that HisDivine power hath granted unto us all thingsthat pertain unto life and godliness, throughthe knowledge of Him that called us by Hisown glory and virtue ; whereby He hathgranted unto us His precious and exceedinggreat promises ; that through these ye maybecome partakers of the Divine nature, havingescaped from the corruption that is in the worldby lust. Yea, and for this very cause addingon your part all diligence ; in your faith, supplyvirtue ; and in your virtue, knowledge ; andin your knowledge, temperance ; and in your

6

a2 PETER AND THE CHURCH

temperance, patience ; and in your patience,godliness ; and in your godliness, love of thebrethren ; and in your love of the brethren, love.

“ For if these things are yours and abound,they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful untothe knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Forhe that lacketh these things is blind, seeing onlywhat is near, having forgotten the cleansingfrom his old sins. Wherefore, brethren, givethe more diligence to make your calling andelection sure ; for if ye do these things, ye shallnever stumble ; for thus shall be richly suppliedunto you the entrance into the eternal Kingdomof our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

This paragraph would be a fitting end,without any note or comment, to our con-sideration.

We turn once more to the description of theChurch found in 1 Peter 2. 9.

“ Ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, aholy nation, a people for God’s own possession,that ye may shew forth the excellencies of HimWho called you out of darkness into His mar-vellous light ; which in time past were nopeople, but now are the people of God ; whichhad not obtained mercy, but now have obtainedmercy. ”

In writing this the Apostle was evidentlyremembering the prophecy of Hosea, that

T HE U LTIMATE PU R P O S E 83

marvellous unfolding of the heart and holinessof God, ” Which in time past were no people(Lo-ammi) ; but now are the people of God(Ammi) : which had not obtained mercy (Lo-RzJzzama~), but now have obtained mercy( Ruhamah) . ” If you want thoroughly to under-stand Peter, study Hosea; and if you want tounderstand Hosea, study Peter.

As we come to the last of our meditations, Imust not stay with any recapitulation, save tosay this : having considered the instrumentdescribed in four pregnant phrases, it remainsfor us to consider the purpose of the Church asset forth, its responsibility.

What is the purpose of the Church of God,of that people described as “ an elect race, aroyal priesthood, a holy nation, a people forGod’s own possession ? ” Why does the Churchexist-from the standpoint of the mind andpurpose of God ? “ That ye may shew forththe excellencies of Him Who called you out ofdarkness into His marvellous light.”

“ That ye may shew forth “--exhibit-re-veal. The root idea of the word used by theApostle is simply to lead out into view, intovisibility, The Church exists to lead out intovisibility something, to reveal something-what ? The “ excellencies of God.” I do notknow really that it is an improvement upon the


old version, yet I think it is a slight improve-ment-“ the praises of God.” The word“ praises ” would rather suggest the result ofthe things spoken of. “ The excellencies ofGod,” suggests facts in God. May I for a momentsuggest another word : “ That ye may shewforth the virt~s of God.” That would not bestrictly accurate, but it moves toward theinterpretation. It is not always a safe thing todo, to interpret merely on the basis of etymology,but we should not neglect etymology. If we feelour way down to the root idea of this wordrendered “ excellencies,” “ praises,” “ virtues,”we find it means “ lifting power.” That mayseem to rob the statement of much of its beauty.But it does bring us face to face with one greatfact concerning God, to which all facts con-tribute. The supreme idea is that the Churchexists to reveal to the world the lifting powerof God. The great fact in Deity, the facts whichare those of supreme wonder and greatness inthe presence of fallen humanity and the ruinedrace of men-all are employed as the liftingpower of God. That is the supreme vocation ofthe Christian Church in the world to-day, toreveal to humanity sunk as it is in misery,seeking to find a way out by all sorts of methodsof human cleverness but unable to lift itselfat all ; the Church is called upon to exhibit, to

THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE 85

show forth, to bring into clear visibility all thatin God which is supreme in the presence of allthis human need-the lifting power of God.

Now how shall we underst.and that ? Wewill confine ourselves to this description of theChurch which we have attempted to considerin the foregoing chapters. We will ask another

question : What are the excellencies of Godexhibited through the Church ? We find theanswer by a further pondering of the fourfolddescription. I want to summarise them firstof all ; and then to touch upon each.

“An elect race ” will exhibit to the world theexcellencies of the creative power of God. The“ royal priesthood ” will exhibit the excel-lencies of the redeeming power of God. The“ holy nation ” will exhibit the excellencies ofthe government of God. And, lastly, and finally,and inclusively, and exhaustively, a “ peopleGod-possessed ” will reveal to the world theexcellencies of His love. All these things con-stitute the lifting power of God. How is theworld to know these things ? The Church is themeans through which they are to be revealed.

“ An elect race ” exhibits the excellenciesof’ the creative power of God. We cannot stayin the country for any length of time, and revelin the sunlight glory of a day of brightness, orlisten to the infinite music of the rain, without.


seeing everywhere evidences of the creativepower of God. Behind every dazzling flower,and every magnificent hillside, and in all theplacid beauties of the lakes, the creative powerof God is revealed. But the creative power ofGod is not revealed so perfectly anywhere asin the Christian Church.

I am going to turn from Peter to Paul for amoment to illustrate what I am saying. ToPaul was committed the mystery of the Church.The Colossian Letter, with the Ephesian Letter,constituted the high peak of revelation con-cerning the Church by the Holy Spirit, throughPaul. In Colossians the subject is the glory ofChrist as at the disposal of the Church. Listento these two brief quotations. “ In Him (theSon) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godheadcorporeally, and in Him ye are made full.” Thetwo sentences form one statement. Paul haddescribed the glories of the Son of God.

It is important to remember that we cannotstop at the Gospels if we want to know Jesus.That is the mistake many are making to-day.Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones said in my hearing quiterecently : “ No one understands the Gospelsuntil he has read the Acts of the Apostles.”That is a great truth. No one can understandthe Person of our Lord, if he neglects the inter-pretation of Him which came when the promise


was fulfilled, when He gave the Holy Spirit tothe Church.

In describing the Person of our Lord, Paulsays that He is “ the Firstborn of all creation.”And then, “ In Him all things consist. And Heis the Head of the body, the Church ; Who isthe beginning, the Firstborn frcm the dead ”(Co]. 1. 17, 18).

The word “ Firstborn” marks supremacy andfinality. The Firstborn of creation, appearingin the wonder of His own personality, superiorto the mysteries and marvels and glories andbeauties of creation. The Firstborn of creation !

But when Paul had to refer to His relationwith the Church, he had to add that thing thatmarks the difference-“ Firstborn from thedead.” It is a more marvellous manifestation ofGod’s creative power to bring life and beautyout of death than even out of the super-abound-ing power and glory of His spoken Word. “ Godsaid, Let there be . . . and there was.” That is astupendous exhibition of creative power. Ofwhat power ? Christ’s. Firstborn ! But Christis the Firstborn from the dead, and the Churchof God exhibits the matchless power of God increation which brings life out of death. “ Anelect race ” reveals that.

Something occurs to me here and now ; letme refer to it. It has gripped me a thousand


times in the course of my ministry. I amthinking of that wonderful poem by Mrs.Browning, entitled, “ The Seraphim.” I amnot going to recite it, because I cannot recite ;but I know its meaning. Mrs. Browning de-scribes the seraphim watching the work of theSon of God on earth. And at last, seeing where-unto the thing was moving by the mystery o fthe Incarnation, and ultimately by the Cross,one seraph looks at the hosts of ransomed souls,at the Church, and says :

“Hereafter shall the blood-bou.ght captives raiseTheir passion-song of blood. ”

And the other replies :

“And we extendOur holy vacant hands toward the Throne,Crying, ‘We have no music. ’ ”

Are we inclined to call that hyperbole ? It ’does not even begin to touch the wonder of thefact that the angels will never sing as the Churchof God will sing. No angel will ever be able tochant that solo, “ He loved me, and gaveHimself for me.” We can sing that, for out ofdeath we have found life. We show forth thatcreative excellency of God by being what weare. As believers in Jesus Christ, and sharingHis preciousness, we show this excellency ofGod.


And so the “ royal priesthood ” exhibitsthe excellencies of God in redeeming $ower. H o whas this thing come to pass, that out of deaththis new life is being manifested by the creativepower of God ? Acting in one way, in redemp-tion ! There we bow our heads, for we are i.n thepresence of the Cross with its unfathomablemystery.

I have been trying to do my work for a goodmany years, and I have found no subject sofascinating and so compelling as the Cross. Ithink I may say in the presence of my brethrenthat I have read, so far as I can, every greatbook that has been written on the Cross, in-cluding that which to me is the greatest of all,Dr. Denney’s book on ” The Death of Christ ;”and I have put every one down, and I havesaid, “ Yes, thank God ; that is it, so far ! ”But there is always something beyond, some-thing elusive, some great mystery, some un-fathomable wonder.

Do you suppose that after a confession likethat I am going to try to interpret it to younow ? No ! When I see a company of men andwomen who were lost, and now are found, whowere dead and are now alive, passing into thepresence of God by regal right (” a royal priest-hood “), interceding there, talking with Godface to face, without fear, I tell you I know that


that Cross, which all human attempts to under-stand is foolishness, is, nevertheless, the wisdomof God. So the Church exhibits His glory inredemption, in the exercise of its royal priesthood.

The “ holy nation ” exlzibits the excellenciesof God’s governmerti!. If the world is to see whatit means to be God-governed she must look tothe Church. We almost tremble as we say it.The purpose of the Church is that in everymember there should be a revelation to theworld of what it means to be able to say :“ Other lords have had dominion over us; nowwe know no other Lord but Thee.”

In your life and mine, in the life of the Churcheverywhere, there ought to be-shall I say thereis ?-a revelation of the beauty, and the bene-ficence, and the breadth of the government ofGod, Whose Throne is lifted high. How wethank God that there is a Throne that has neverbeen empty ; a Throne that has never trembled ;a Throne that has maintained its rule overhuman affairs, overruling the wrath of men andmaking it to praise Him. The government ofGod is to be exhibited in its glory by the “ holynation.”

” A people for His own possession.” Apeople God-indwelt, who go out into the worldand reveal the love of God, as it is manifestedin their relationships. How one trembles here,


because one knows how one has personallyfailed ! Yet what they said of the early Christ-ians was the sign-manual of the fulfilling of theirvocation, “ See how these Christians love oneanother ! ”

It is the love of God shed abroad in thehuman heart that is to find its manifestationthrough the Church. In her outlook uponthe world, in her activity in the world,in all she says and does, the love of Godshould be for ever shining. That is the purposeof the wondrous Church of God. A race elect ;a priesthood royal ; a nation holy ; a peopleGod-possessed, in order that God may be re-vealed in all His excellencies.

Let me pause here and say this : the ultimatesphere of the Church’s service is not in thisworld at all ; it lies out beyond. That is a veryfascinating theme. I commend you to think ofthe Ephesian Epistle in which Paul shows whatis the final vocation of the Church of God. Itis not on earth.

I am not saying that the Church has novocation on earth. She has. But her earthlyvocation will only be fulfilled as it should be,when she realises that the ultimate meaning ofthe Church of God lies out in the ages to come.In that Ephesian Letter, the Apostle shows thatthe Church is to be the means of revealing to


the principalities and powers in the heavenlyplaces the wisdom of God ; and that the Churchis to be the medium of revelation in the ages tocome, of the grace and goodness and redeemingmercy of God.

Moody once said : “ Some morning you willsee in the newspaper, ‘ Moody is dead.’ Don’tbelieve it ! I shall never be so alive as I shall bein that morning.” By and by somebody willsay of every one of us, “ She is dead-He isdead.” Don’t you believe it ! We shall havegone on to the higher service, gone to the ful-filment of the vocation of the Church.

All ages proceed out of the mystery of theDivine Being, from the womb of Deity ; andthey shall listen to the passion song of theChurch as she reveals the heart of God in themidst of the universe of God.It is that fact that ultimately creates urgency

in the present. Some of us have heard in recentyears-I do not think I hear it so much as Idid-that those of us who believe in the Evan-gelical faith in all its fulness, are ” other-worldly.” Have you ever heard that ? Well,

’ thank God, we are ! And when the Church ofGod ceases to be ” other-worldly ” she has losther power to touch this world with transformingpower. It is the power of the world to come thatgives urgency to our present responsibility.


For now we are as lights shining in a darkplace, and we listen once more, in that sense,to the words of our Blessed Lord Himself :“ Let your light so shine before men, that theymay see your good works, and glorify yourFather which is in Heaven.”

Let me for a few mom.ents seek to gather upsome of the great facts with which this word,through the Holy Spirit, by the Apostle Peter,has brought us face to face.

We first remember that ignorance of God isthe cause of human sin in its continuity, accord-ing to our Biblical history which we do mostsurely believe. It was not ignorance of Godwhich was the cause of the origin of human sin.For those two walked with God in the garden” in the cool of the day.”

Their sin was not the result of failure to know.Their sin resulted from listening to the slanderof God, blasphemy against the truth concerningHim, and the result was ignorance ; and thatignorance is the cause of human sin in itscontinuity, and, therefore, is the cause ofhuman misery. Yes, “ where there is no visionthe people perish ; ” or, as I like to render it,“ the people cast off restraint.” They have

not seen God ; they are ignorant of Him ; theydo not know Him. That is the interpretation ofhuman misery.


The first value-1 do not say the final one-of the Incarnation was bringing God intovisibility. “ No man hath seen God at anytime ; the only begotten Son which is in thebosom of the Father, He hath exegeted Him,declared Him.” The Son is the exegesis ofGod, speaking out of His heart. That is thestory of the Christian Church. What makes youa Christian ? You see God in Christ through theIncarnation. The Church of God continuesthe Incarnation in that sense. Every memberof the Church of God is a new-born soul ; andin Christ he has become a new creation. So Godis to be seen through the Church.

Generalities may fail to produce a personalappeal. We may have gained something ; wemay have gained a clearer apprehension of themeaning of the Church. But let me end thisseries of Bible meditations on the personal note.Are you a member of that Church ? If you arenot, what I am now going to say has no meaningfor you. If you are not a member of the Church,if you have not been born again, and if you arenot sharing the very life of the Son of God, whatI shall now say can have no application to you.But let that be granted.

Then let us ask four questions as we close.I am going to answer them for myself ; I amnot going to answer them for you. And don’t

T HE U LTIMATE P U R P O S E 95

you answer them for your neighbour. But herethey are :

How far am I revealing the excellencies ofGod in creation in my life ?

How fully am I exercising the priestlyfunction, the right to the exercise of which iscreated by my new birth, the kin of Christ asSon of God ; how far am I prevailing with manand with God in intercession ?

How fully do I reflect the perfection of thegovernment of God, in the way of my behaviourin this world ?

In what measure do I reveal the love of God,and the compassion of His heart, as I moveabout in the world ?

I propose that you and I should get alone,and shut out parents, wife, child, friend, com-rade, and ask those questions.

Immediately following the passage which wehave been considering, Peter said : “ Beloved,I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, toabstain from fleshly lusts which war againstthe soul ; having your behaviour seemly amongthe Gentiles ; that, wherein they speak againstyou as evil-doers, they may by your good works,which they behold, glorify God in the day ofvisitation.”

In the light of this vision of the Church, andof my relationship to it, and the responsibility


which falls upon me, I ask : “ Who is sufficientfor these things ? ” And I return to the thingswe have already considered, and I remind youof what the Holy Spirit, by His servant ,Peter,teaches us. “ For you, therefore, which believeis the preciousness.”

All the virtues and the victories radiantlyrevealed in Christ, through Whom God wasmanifested, are ours ; they are at our disposal.“ For you, therefore, which believe is thepreciousness.”

peter and the church · 2020-06-21 · peter and the church by g. campbell morgan. foreword t he...

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