1 Peter 4:17-19 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us… I. THE SUFFERANCE OF THE SAINTS. Let this teach us two duties. First, to prepare for evils before they come; next, to make them welcome when they are come. So they shall neither meet us with fear, nor leave us with sorrow. II. THE INTEGRITY OF THAT SUFFERANCE. They only are said to suffer according to God's will, who suffer first innocently, then patiently. III. THE COMFORT OF THIS INTEGRITY. He that suffers for Christ's testimony is confident of God's mercy. IV. THE BOLDNESS OF THIS COMFORT. 1. God loves us, as our Creator. 2. God is faithful to us, however unfaithful we have been to Him. V. THE CAUTION OF THIS BOLDNESS. "In well doing." 1. The wicked man may commit his soul to God's keeping, but how is he sure God will take the charge of it? What should God do with a foul and polluted soul? The soul must at last be committed to some; now He only is the receiver of it in death, that was keeper of it in life. If Satan have always ruled it, God will not embrace it. 2. A man may do good, yet come short of this comfort; it is given to them that do well. It is not doing good, but doing well that gets God to keep the soul. You have served Me, says God to Israel, but after your own lusts. To serve God is doing good, but after their own lusts, is not doing well. To build a church is a good work; yet if the foundations of it be laid in the ruins of the poor, their children come not to pray for, but curse the builder. (T. Adams.) Parallel Verses KJV: For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? |
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