2 Peter 1:9 But he that lacks these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. I. PENURY. It is a received maxim that God and nature have wrought nothing in vain; no part or faculty of the body can be well spared. We can spare nothing for this world; but for heaven we can quietly lack things that conduce to our eternal peace! What is the reason? A man never misses what he cares not for. A man may lack outward things yet come never the later to heaven; yea, the sooner the surer; but woe to him that lacks "these things! "This is the want now least feared, and this shall be the want most lamented. Grace is solid and real (Proverbs 10:22). Whatsoever we lack let us not lack "these things." II. BLINDNESS. 1. Satan blinds the intellectual eye (2 Corinthians 4:4). 2. Lusts darken the mind. 3. The dust of this world makes many blind. III. APOSTASY. "Hath forgotten": the original implies one that did voluntarily attract forgetfulness to himself; the author of his own mischief. 1. The corruption of the heart. 2. The danger of that corruption. "Old sins" — sins that he hath done of old. Long nurture is another nature. 3. The deliverance from that danger. "He was purged." Salvation may be said to belong to many that belong not to salvation. 4. The unthankfulness for that delivery. "Forgotten." The defect of corporal sight hath often mended the memory; but it is not so for spiritual (Mark 8:18). A carnal mind is blind to conceive, ready to forget.-1 says, "Nothing more helps us forward in a good course than the frequent recognition of our sins."(2) As we remember our sins to repentance, so we must forget them in respect of continuance. Otherwise the memory of them doth not reduce us to life but forward us to death. (Thos. Adams.) Parallel Verses KJV: But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. |
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